UNIV.  Of  CALIF.  LWWARY,  L©« 


LIBRARY  OF 

ARCHITECTURE  AND 

ALLIED  ARTS 

Gift  of 

The   Heirs 

of 
R.  Germain  Hubby,  A. I. A 


AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 


AMERICAN    SHRINES 
IN  ENGLAND 

BY 

ALFRED    T.    STORY 


WITH    FOUR   ILLUSTRATIONS   IN   COLOUR   AND 
EIGHTEEN    IN   MONOTONE 


NEW   YORK 

THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1908 


First  Published  in  igo8 


Stack 
Annex 


Uo 


PREFATORY     NOTE 

T  N  giving  my  little  book  to  the  public  1 
•*•  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  the  Rt. 
Hon.  Earl  Spencer,  K.G.,  for  his  permission 
to  photograph,  as  an  illustration  to  the 
volume,  the  portrait  (by  Mark  Gerards)  of 
Sir  Robert  Spencer,  first  Baron  Spencer  of 
Wormleighton  ;  interesting  to  the  readers  ot 
"American  Shrines  in  England  "  because  he 
was  the  constant  and  ever-loyal  friend  and 
patron  of  Lawrence  Washington  of  Sulgrave 
and  Brington,  and  of  his  sons,  one  of  whom 
was  the  direct  ancestor  of  the  first  President 
of  the  United  States.  Also  for  allowing  the 
Althorp  Household  Books  to  be  gone 
through  for  the  verification  of  entries  therein, 


vi     AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

and  for  other  aids.  Thanks  are  due  likewise 
to  Mr.  A.  L.  Y.  Morley,  his  lordship's 
agent,  for  various  courtesies  and  helps  ;  as 
also  to  the  Rectors  of  Brington  and  Ecton 
for  similar  kindnesses. 

A.  T.  S. 
"  OAKLANDS  " 

ST.  MARGARETS-ON-THAMES 
December^  190? 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

THE   WASHINGTONS    OF   NORTHAMPTONSHIRE     .  .          I 

CHAPTER    II 
THE   CRADLE   OF   THE   WASHINGTONS  ...       28 

CHAPTER   III 
WORMLEIGHTON 48 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE  WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  .     .     .     .69 

CHAPTER   V 

THE     SPENCER    AND    WASHINGTON     MONUMENTS    AT 

BRINGTON  . 91 

CHAPTER  VI 

LAWRENCE     WASHINGTON,      THE     RECTOR     OF     PUR- 
LEIGH        .  . 114 

vii 


viii    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 
CHAPTER  VII 

PAGE 

THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS        .  .  .  .136 

CHAPTER  VIII 

SCROOBY   AND    THE   PILGRIM    FATHERS       .  .  .163 

CHAPTER    IX 

A    LANCASHIRE   AND    A    SUFFOLK    HERO      .  .  .192 

CHAPTER   X 
PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE.        .        .        .211 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE   FOUNDER   OF   YALE  COLLEGE   .  .  .  .236 

CHAPTER   XII 

THE    FOUNDER    OF    HARVARD   COLLEGE      .  .  .    253 

CHAPTER   XIII 

OTHER     MEMORIALS     AND     SHRINES     IN    AND     NEAR 

LONDON 287 

CHAPTER  XIV 

SOME  OTHER    HEROES  OF   AMERICAN  COLONISATION.    311 
INDEX 341 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PLATES 

THE  BELL  TOWER,  EVESHAM          .         .          Frontispiece 

From  a  drawing  by  A.  R.  Quinton. 

FACING  PAGE 

ROBERT,      1ST     LORD      SPENCER      (CREATED      BARON 

SPENCER   OF   WORMLEIGHTON,    1603)  .  .22 

From  a  portrait  by  Mark  Gerards,  at  Althorp,  by 
permission  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  Earl  Spencer,  K.G. 
Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

THE   CHURCH,  GREAT   BRINGTON        ....      24 
Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

SULGRAVE   MANOR    HOUSE 40 

Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

THE   TOWER,    WORMLEIGHTON    HOUSE         .  .  -54 

Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

WASHINGTON    HOUSE,    LITTLE   BRINGTON  .  .       74 

Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

CARVED    BENCH-END,    BRINGTON    CHURCH  .  .       78 

ix 


x      AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

FACING   PAGE 

OLD     SUNDIAL    WITH     WASHINGTON     ARMS,    LITTLE 

BRINGTON 78 

WESTMINSTER    ABBEY,  FROM   WESTMINSTER    SCHOOL         88 
From  a  drawing  by  John  Fulleylove,  R.I. 

THE    SPENCER     CHAPEL,    GREAT     BRINGTON     (LOOK- 
ING NORTH-WEST) 91 

Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

ECTON   CHURCH 141 

Photograph  by  T.  C.  Pinny. 

JORDANS   MEETING   HOUSE 222 

Photograph  by  F.  Mtlller. 

PLAs-YN-YALE   MANOR   HOUSE  .  .  .  .236 

HARVARD    HOUSE,    STRATFORD-ON-AVON  .  .257 

Photograph  by  J.  Valentine  &  Sons,  Dundee. 

HARVARD  MEMORIAL  CHAPEL  AND  WINDOW,  SOUTH- 

WARK    CATHEDRAL 265 

PERSHORE   ABBEY   AND    BRIDGE        ....       294 
From  a  drawing  by  A.  R.  Quinton. 

THE   TEMPLE  CHURCH   .  .  ,  .  .  .310 

From  a  drawing  by  John  Fulleylove,  R.I. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

IN  THE  TEXT 

PAGE 

THE     WASHINGTON    ARMS,     IMPALED    WITH    THOSE 

OF   THE   BUTLERS 105 

THE     BRASS    OF    ROBERT     WASHINGTON     AND     HIS 

WIFE 107 

ARMS    OF   ROBERT    WASHINGTON,     WITH    CRESCENT 

IN    SIGN    OF   CADENCY IO8 

PART   OF   MEDIAEVAL   SOUTHWARK  .  .  .       259 

From  an  old  engraving. 

STARTING   ON   THE    PILGRIMAGE   TO   CANTERBURY    .       278 
From  an  old  engraving. 

ENTRANCE    TO   CHAPTER    HOUSE       ....       289 
From  "  Westminster  Abbey,"  by  G.  E.  Troutbeck 


AMERICAN   SHRINES 
IN    ENGLAND 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    WASHINGTONS    OF    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 

1  ^  VERY  American  who  is  interested  in 
•* — '  the  origins  of  his  countrymen,  and 
especially  in  the  origin  of  the  men  who 
have  made  their  mark  in  their  country's 
annals,  must  desire,  on  visiting  England, 
to  see  places  that  have  become  almost 
sacred  from  their  association  with  names 
that  are  among  the  most  honoured  and 
revered  in  the  records  of  their  country. 
England  is  not  the  ancestral  home  of  all 
the  great  men  who  have  figured  in  the 
story  of  the  United  States,  far  from  it ; 
but  it  so  happens  that  a  great  many  of 


2     AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

those  who  helped  to  shape  the  country's 
early  destinies,  and  in  an  especial  way 
stamped  upon  it  their  character,  and  we 
might  say  their  ideal,  were  linked  by 
home  and  kindred  with  Great  Britain. 
Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  a 
host  of  others,  who  were  associated  with  the 
founding  of  the  Republic,  together  with 
Penn,  and  many  more,  who  helped  in  its 
building — all  were  of  British  stock,  and  of 
the  best  blood  of  that  stock,  which,  what- 
ever else  may  be  said  of  it,  is  possessed  of 
a  nation-making  strain  such  as  no  other 
race  we  know  of  has  shown. 

It  is  curious  to  note,  too,  how  many  of 
these  men,  or  their  forebears,  came  from 
Mid-England,  from  the  shires  that  pack 
the  inland  area  from  Bucks  to  York ;  while 
two  of  the  strongest  and  most  notable 
of  America's  worthies,  Washington  and 


WASHINGTONS   OF  NORTHANTS        3 

Franklin,  had  their  root-stock  in  the  very 
midmost  county  of  them  all,  not  far  either 
from  Naseby — or  Navesby,  as  some  authori- 
ties tell  us  was  the  original  form  of  the 
name,  the  village,  'tis  said,  being  so  called 
because  it  is  situated  at  the  very  centre,  or 
navel,  of  England. 

That  may  be,  and  probably  is,  merely  a 
notion  of  some  pedant  or  philologist  of  the 
old  school ;  but  there  is  this  much  to  be  said 
about  it,  namely,  that  if  it  be  far-fetched  it 
is  not  far  from  the  truth,  and  as  Great 
Brington,  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the 
Washington  homes  in  England,  is  barely 
six  miles  south  of  Naseby,  it  may  with 
truth  be  said  that  the  first  President  of  the 
United  States  sprang  from  the  very  heart  of 
England  ;  as  did  likewise  Benjamin  Franklin, 
the  birthplace  of  whose  father,  Ecton,  is 
but  eight  or  nine  miles,  as  the  crow  flies,  east 


4      AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

of   Brington,    Northampton   lying   between, 
though  nearer  Ecton. 

The  town  records  tell  of  a  Washington 
who  was  twice  mayor  of  that  borough,  and 
there  is  direct  and  complete  evidence 
connecting  him  with  the  Washingtons  of 
Virginia  and  hence  with  the  first  President 
of  the  United  States.  This  Washington 
was  named  Lawrence.  He  was  the  son  of 
John  Washington,  of  Warton,  in  Lancashire, 
a  place  situated  near  the  Westmorland 
border.  His  grandfather  also  was  a  John 
Washington,  though  he  belonged  to 
Whitfield,  in  the  same  county.  The  family 
is  thought  to  have  come  originally  from 
the  county  of  Durham,*  and  seems  to  have 

*  Although  there  is  no  direct  evidence  of  this  Durham 
origin  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  its  favour.  Washington 
Irving,  in  his  "  Life  of  George  Washington,"  tells  us  of 
a  Washington  family  that  was  established  in  the  diocese 
of  Durham  as  early  as  1183.  It  was  originally  named 


WASHINGTONS   OF  NORTHANTS        5 

been  of  that  good  sound  yeoman  stock  that 
has  played  so  large  a  part  in  the  making 
of  England  and  of  all  that  in  the  world 
to-day  bears  the  stamp  of  English  genius 
and  character.  An  imaginative  American 
genealogist*  has  gone  beyond  this  Durham 
origin  and  derived  the  family  from  no  less 
a  hero  than  Odin,  King  of  Scandinavia, 
but  into  this  large  pedigree  we  need  not 
enter  here. 


Hertburn,  but  in  the  year  named  a  William  de  Hertburn 
exchanged  his  village  of  Hertburn  for  the  manor  and 
village  of  Wessynton,  in  the  same  diocese.  The  family 
changed  its  name  with  its  estate,  and  henceforth  assumed 
that  of  De  Wessyngton.  About  the  end  of  the  i4th  century 
the  estate  passed  from  the  Washingtons  by  marriage,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  a  John  de  Wessyngton,  who  became 
prior  of  the  Benedictine  convent  attached  to  the  cathedral 
of  Durham  in  1416  (died  1446),  we  hear  no  more  of  this 
branch  of  the  De  Wessyngtons,  though  the  name  is 
frequently  met  with  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

*  "A  Pedigree  and  History  of  the  Washington  Family," 
by  Albert  Welles,  1879. 


6      AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

The  mother  of  Lawrence  Washington, 
who  became  twice  mayor  of  Northampton 
(1532  and  1545),  was  Margaret,  the  daughter 
of  Robert  Kitson  (or  Kytson,  as  we  find  it 
written  in  the  old  records),  of  Warton,  and 
sister  of  Sir  Thomas  Kitson,  of  Hengrave, 
Suffolk.  This  relationship  to  the  Kitsons 
had,  as  we  shall  see,  a  most  powerful  in- 
fluence upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Washington 
family.  Lawrence  Washington  was  trained 
to  the  law,  studying  at  Gray's  Inn,  of  which 
he  became  a  Bencher  ;  but  while  yet  young, 
probably  on  the  advice,  and  likely  enough 
with  the  aid,  of  his  uncle  Sir  Thomas  Kitson, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  successful 
merchants  of  his  time,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  commerce,  and,  settling  in 
Northampton  (whither  it  is  supposed  he 
went  in  the  first  instance  with  his  father), 
was  blessed  with  great  prosperity  and,  as 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS        7 

we  have  seen,  became  twice  mayor  of  the 
town. 

Nor  is  it  unlikely  that  his  relationship  to 
Sir  John  Spencer  of  Althorp  (who  had 
married  his  cousin  Catherine,  the  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Kitson)  had  something  to 
do  with  the  choice  of  Northampton  as  his 
place  of  residence.  Wool  was  in  those 
days  the  chief  product  of  Northampton- 
shire, as  of  the  neighbouring  county  of 
Warwick,  and  the  Spencers  had  grown 
rich  in  that  industry.  Northampton  was 
naturally  the  centre  of  the  trade  for  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  its  wool-combers 
were  a  thriving  and  energetic  body.  The 
industry  may  be  said  to  have  been  still 
in  its  infancy,  but  so  profitable  was  it 
found  that  year  after  year  larger  and 
larger  numbers  of  merchant-adventurers 
were  drawn  into  it,  and  larger  and  larger 


8     AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

areas  of  land,  in  both  Northamptonshire 
and  Warwick,  devoted  thereto.*  It  was 
a  stirring  age.  Of  the  long  wars  that 
had  but  recently  been  brought  to  a  close 
men  had  got  tired,  and  with  peace  and 
the  breaking  up  of  old  shackles,  they  went 
into  all  the  new  lines  of  life  that  presented 
themselves  with  a  verve  and  energy  that 
had  never  been  seen  in  England  before, 
and  into  nothing  with  more  striking  results 
than  this  sheep-farming  and  wool-stapling 
business,  which  was,  moreover,  given  such 
an  enormous  impulse  by  Henry  VII I. 's 
policy  of  dissolving  the  monasteries ;  the 

*  This  devoting  the  land  to  the  breeding  of  sheep 
was  a  great  grief  to  the  poor  in  those  days.  An  old 
writer  (i6th  century),  speaking  of  Warwickshire,  says 
that  the  sheep  were  "  most  large  in  bone,  flesh,  and  wool, 
in  this  county,  especially  about  Wormleighton.  In  this 
county  the  complaint  of  John  Rous  continueth  and  in- 
creaseth,  that  sheep  turn  cannibals,  eating  up  men,  houses, 
and  towns,  their  pastures  make  such  depopulation." 


WASHINGTONS   OF  NORTHANTS        9 

effect  of  which  can  only  be  faintly 
realised  at  the  present  day  by  trying  to 
imagine  what  would  happen  if  some 
strong  hand  were  to  "henry"  the  vast 
lands  tied  up  to-day  by  our  old  feudal 
laws  and  let  loose  upon  them  the  busy 
hands  and  busier  brains  of  the  doers  of 
effective  things. 

One  of  the  leading  patrons  of  this  new 
industry  was  the  first  Lord  Spencer,  a 
man  of  whose  connection  with  the  Wash- 
ington family  it  will  be  necessary  to  say 
more  presently.  Of  him  there  is  a  local 
tradition  to  the  effect  that  he  aspired  to 
be  the  owner  of  20,000  sheep,  but  a 
mortality  always  attacked  his  flocks  between 
the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  thousand.  It 
is  probably  but  a  jest  that  says  he  once 
reached  the  very  odd  number  of  19,999. 

How    much    he   threw   himself  into   this 


10    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

sheep-rearing  business,  and  how  greatly 
he  loved  it,  is  evidenced  by  a  remark 
made  by  Wilson,  the  historian  of  James  I. 
"  His  fields  and  flocks,"  he  says,  "  brought 
him  more  calm  and  happy  contentment 
than  the  various  and  unstable  dispensa- 
tions of  a  court." 

This  Spencer  was  of  a  later  day  than 
the  Washington  of  whom  we  are  speak- 
ing, who  had  risen  to  the  dignity  of 
mayor  of  his  adopted  town  in  1532,  when, 
therefore,  Henry  VIII.  was  king,  at 
which  time  the  Spencers  were  a  growing 
family — growing  by  their  devotion  to  the 
sheep-breeding  industry,  if  we  may  believe 
an  anecdote  told  by  the  above-named 
historian  in  relation  to  the  before-men- 
tioned Lord  Spencer.  On  the  occasion 
of  a  dispute  between  him  and  Lord 
Arundel  in  the  House  of  Lords,  the  latter 


WASH1NGTONS   OF   NORTH  ANTS       11 

twitted  him  with  the  remark  that  "  when 
these  things  you  speak  of  were  doing, 
your  ancestors  were  keeping  sheep "  ; 
whereto  Lord  Spencer  replied,  with  an 
equal  touch  of  venom  :  "  When  my  an- 
cestors, as  you  say,  were  keeping  sheep, 
your  ancestors  were  plotting  treason." 

Now  it  was  when  the  Spencers  were 
"keeping  sheep"  that  Lawrence  Wash- 
ington was  induced  to  go  into  the  wool- 
stapling  trade  at  Northampton,  and  it 
may  have  been  largely  through  his  con- 
nection with  Sir  John  Spencer,  who  was 
practically,  as  a  wool-grower,  in  the  same 
trade,  that  he  was  enabled  to  grow  rich 
by  buying  the  gold-making  fleeces  from 
the  sheep-farmers  of  the  district  and 
selling  the  wool  to  the  manufacturers  of 
Norfolk,  Essex,  and  Yorkshire.  He  soon 
became  a  prominent  citizen  (with  his 


12    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

house  probably  on  the  Market  Square  or 
near  it),  was  made  a  member  of  the 
corporation  while  still  a  young  man,  and 
chosen  mayor  in  1632.  Nothing  of  any 
note  is  known  of  Lawrence  Washington's 
first  mayoralty ;  but  during  the  second 
year  of  office  (in  1645),  says  a  little 
brochure,  published  by  The  Northampton 
Mercury,  on  "  Northampton  Mayors,"  the 
corporation  had  to  face  an  unemployed 
difficulty,  with  heavy  rates,  scant  work, 
and  high  prices.  "In  their  '  discrete  dis- 
cretion,' as  the  original  entry  runs  in  the 
book  still  preserved  in  the  Town  Hall, 
the  mayor  and  corporation,  to  keep 
down  the  price  of  bread  and  other 
necessaries,  enacted  : 

"  '  That  no  baker  should  send  into  the 
country  more  than  one  horse  load  of 
bread  in  any  one  day. 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS      13 

"  '  That  no  miller,  nor  person  acting 
for  a  miller,  should  go  near  the  market 
on  market  day.' 

"As  it  was  already  illegal  to  sell  corn  on 
market  days  anywhere  except  in  the  market, 
this  was  intended  to  bring  the  private  house- 
holder into  direct  commerce  with  the  producer. 

(<  '  That  no  person  bringing  corn  into  the 
town  should  be  allowed  to  keep  it  from 
one  market  day  to  another.' 

"  That  was  to  ensure  that  corn,  if  there 
were  any,  could  be  purchased  at  the  market 
value,  and  could  not  be  kept  for  a  rise. 

"  The  mayor  who  could  issue  and  enforce 
such  a  decree  was  no  ordinary  man,"  com- 
ments the  writer  of  the  brochure,  and  we 
thoroughly  agree  with  him. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Lawrence 
Washington's  relationship  to  Sir  John 
Spencer,  of  Wormleighton  and  Althorp,  by 


14    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

his  marriage  with  Catherine,  the  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Kitson.  This  tie  was 
strengthened  by  the  marriage,  en  seconde 
noce,  of  Lawrence  Washington  to  Amee 
(or  Amy)  daughter  of  Robert  Pargiter,  of 
Gretworth,*  Northamptonshire  (his  first 
wife  having  been  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of 
William  Gough,  of  Northampton),  whose 
near  relative,  William  Pargiter,  married 
Mistress  Abigail  Willoughby,  sister  of  the 

*  In  "  Memorials  of  Old  Northamptonshire,"  edited 
by  Alice  Dryden,  there  are,  connected  with  some  details 
respecting  the  Northamptonshire  Militia  "  taken  the 
xxx  daye  of  September  in  the  Ffyrst  year  (1559)  off  the 
rayne  of  or  sov'ayne  Lady  Elizabeth,"  the  following 
interesting  items  : 

"  Soulgrave  :  Mr.  Washington  is  charged  to  fynd  an 
archer  on  foot  and  the  rest  of  y'  towne  to  furnyshe  a 
byll  man. 

"  Grytworth  :  M.  P'gyter  is  charged  to  fynd  an  archer 
on  foot  and  the  rest  of  y*  towne  to  furnyshe  a  byll  man. 

"  Aston-in-the-wall :  Mr.  Butler  is  charged  with 
a  lyght  horseman." 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS      15 

deceased  wife  (pb.  1597)  of  Robert,  ist 
Lord  Spencer,  of  Wormleighton  (pb.  1627). 
This  nobleman  and  his  son  William  were, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  close  and  devoted  friends 
of  the  son  and  grandsons  of  Lawrence 
Washington.  The  triple  relationship  here 
set  forth  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  in  the 
subjoined  genealogical  tree  : 

Robert  Kitson,  of  Warton,  Lancashire. 

| 

Sir  Thomas  Kitson,  of  Margaret  =  John    Washington, 

Hengrave,  Suff.  I    of  Warton,  Lanes. 

Catherine  =  Sir  John  Spencer.  Lawrence  Washington = 

Amy  Pargiter. 

Sir  Thomas  Kitson  (1485-1540)  was  one 
of  the  princely  merchants  of  his  day,  and 
appears  to  have  made  his  fortune  out  of  the 
fleeces  with  which  the  Spencers  were  so 
largely  concerned  and  into  the  trade  in 
which  his  nephew  Lawrence  threw  himself 
with  so  much  energy  and  success.  He  was 


16   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

a  member  of  the  Mercers'  Company,  was 
twice  its  Warden,  and  its  Master  in  1535. 
Two  years  earlier  he  had  been  Sheriff  of 
London,  and  was  knighted  on  May  3oth 
of  the  same  year.  In  the  Act  of  Parliament 
(1524)  which  was  necessary  to  make  secure 
his  possession  of  the  manors  of  H engrave, 
Suffolk,  and  Colston  Basset,  Nottingham- 
shire, after  the  attainder  of  Buckingham, 
from  whom  he  had  purchased  them  in  1521, 
he  is  described  as  "  citizen  and  mercer 
of  London,  otherwise  called  Kytson  the 
merchant." 

It  may  be  well  understood  that  in  Sir 
Thomas  Kitson,  of  the  Mercers'  Company, 
and  Sir  John  Spencer,  with  his  thousands 
of  sheep,  Lawrence  Washington,  wool- 
stapler,  had  powerful  friends ;  and  we  can 
hardly  doubt  that  it  was  to  some  extent 
through  their  interest  and  influence  that  he 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS      17 

became  wealthy  so  rapidly  —  so  rapidly 
indeed  that  between  his  two  periods  of 
mayoralty  (in  short  in  1539)  he  stretched 
forth  his  hand  and  became  possessed  of  the 
lands  of  Sulgrave,  thrown  into  the  market 
by  Henry's  disruption  of  the  monasteries. 

Sulgrave,  which  is somefourteen  miles  south- 
west of  Northampton  and  about  six  north-east 
of  Banbury,  was  at  the  time  of  the  Dissolu- 
tion the  property  of  the  Priory  of  St.  Andrew, 
at  Northampton.  Lawrence  Washington 
therefore  knew  all  about  it,  and  with  such 
a  "friend  at  court"  as  Sir  John  Spencer 
he  doubtless  found  little  difficulty  in  obtaining 
a  grant  of  the  alienated  lands  of  that  religious 
house ;  the  more  especially  as  the  rector  of 
Brington  was  at  that  time  no  less  a  person 
than  Dr.  Richard  Layton,  Cromwell's  principal 
commissioner  for  the  dissolution  of  the 

monasteries.     Thus  at  a  stride,  as  we   may 
2 


18   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

say,  he  lifted  himself  from  the  simple  rank 
of  a  tradesman  or  merchant  to  that  of  the 
squirearchy  of  the  district,  although  in  truth 
he  was  as  well  born,  and  probably  as  well 
connected  by  marriage,  as  any  of  his 
neighbours,  possibly  as  wealthy  also.  He 
built  himself  a  handsome  house  and  so 
made  himself  one  of  the  proud  magnates 
of  the  county  of  "  spires  and  squires." 

Besides  the  estate  at  Sulgrave  with  which 
Robert  de  Pinkeney  had  endowed  the  Priory 
of  St.  Andrew  at  Northampton,  Lawrence 
Washington  became  possessed  at  the  same 
time  of  other  properties  at  Woodford,  Stotes- 
bury,  and  Cotton,  which  had  belonged  to  the 
priory,  as  also  of  certain  lands  in  Sulgrave, 
the  belongings  of  the  dissolved  priories  of 
Canons  Ashby  and  Catesby  (places,  like 
Sulgrave,  brimming  with  history),  the  sum- 
total  of  his  payment  for  the  same  being 


WASHINGTONS  OF   NORTHANTS       19 

^321  145.  lod.  As  already  said,  this 
transaction  took  place  in  1539,  and  some 
four  years  later  (1543)  the  Northampton 
wool-merchant  still  further  extended  his 
worldly  possessions  by  the  purchase  from 
Sir  John  Williams  and  Anthony  Stringer  of 
a  great  barn  at  Stotesbury,  doubtless  for  the 
convenience  of  his  wool-stapling  operations. 
Lawrence  Washington  had  a  numerous 
family,  but  as  we  are  chiefly  concerned 
with  the  eldest  son,  Robert,  the  ancestor 
of  George  Washington,  we  need  but  glance 
at  the  fact  that  his  second  son,  Lawrence, 
become  a  man  of  some  note  and  eminence. 
He  was  at  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  from 
1560  to  1567,  graduating  B.A.  in  the  last- 
named  year;  joined  Gray's  Inn  in  1582 
and  became  a  Bencher  in  1599;  was  re- 
turned member  of  Parliament  for  Maidstone 
in  1604,  and  continued  to  represent  that 


20   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

borough  until  161 1,  when  he  died  at  the  age 
of  73.  His  son,  Lawrence  (or  "  Laurence" 
as  it  was  usually  spelled  in  his  day), 
followed  his  lead  in  becoming  a  lawyer, 
and  (in  1619)  succeeding  him  as  Registrar 
of  the  Chancery  Court.  The  honour  of 
knighthood  was  conferred  on  him  in  1607. 
He  died  at  Oxford  in  1643,  while  the 
city  was  being  held  by  the  King's  forces. 
Robert  Washington  succeeded  to  the 
Sulgrave  estate  on  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1585  (February  iQth),  being  at  the  time 
in  his  fortieth  year.  He  continued  in  un- 
disturbed possession  until  1610,  when  for 
some  unexplained  reason,  supposed  to  have 
been  pecuniary  embarrassment,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  part  with  it  to  another  branch 
of  the  family.  The  whole  of  the  circum- 
stances that  led  to  this  alienation  are  in- 
volved in  mystery.  If  pecuniary  difficulties 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS      21 

arose  they  would  appear  to  have  developed 
suddenly,  as  up  to  the  time  named  Robert 
Washington  maintained  his  position  in  the 
county  and  gave  his  sons  an  education 
suitable  to  their  station.  Two,  Christopher 
and  William,  went  to  Oriel  College,  Oxford, 
matriculating,  both  of  them,  in  that  most 
memorable  of  all  memorable  years  when 
England  was  in  the  making — the  ringing 
year  of  the  Armada,  Christopher  graduating 
B.A.  six  years  later  (1594-5). 

The  eldest  son  was  named  Lawrence,  after 
his  grandfather,  and  with  his  consent  it 
was  decided  to  sell  Sulgrave  to  Lawrence 
Makepeace,  a  descendant  of  Lawrence 
Washington,  of  Northampton,  through  one 
of  his  daughters,  who  married  an  Abel 
Makepeace.  In  this  family  the  manor 
remained  for  barely  fifty  years,  thus  curiously 
illustrating  the  ill-luck  supposed  to  fall  upon 


22    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

those  who  held  alienated  church  property 
before  the  completion  of  the  third  genera- 
tion. It  was  a  strange  declension  of  for- 
tune, and  was,  we  can  hardly  doubt,  one 
of  the  proximate  causes  of  the  emigration, 
between  forty  and  fifty  years  later,  of  that 
John  Washington  (grandson  of  the  second 
Lawrence)  who  founded  the  Virginian 
branch  of  the  family. 

It  was  at  the  unfortunate  crisis  of 
the  family  fortunes  which  necessitated  the 
sale  of  the  Sulgrave  property  that  the 
Spencers  proved  a  valuable  stay  and  sup- 
port, Lawrence  Washington  then  (following 
his  brother  Robert)  going  to  live  at 
Brington,  close  to  Althorp,  the  famous 
Northamptonshire  seat  of  that  family,  and 
finding  in  Robert,  Lord  Spencer,  a  true 
and  constant  friend. 

In  the  annexed  genealogical  tree  will  be 


*MI-EIGHTON,    1603) 


:  portrait  by  Mark  Gerards  at  Altlwrp 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS         23 

seen  the  detailed  pedigrees  of  the  Washing- 
tons  from  John  Washington,  of  Whitfield, 
Lancashire,  through  John  Washington,  of 
Warton,  to  Lawrence  Washington,  of  Sul- 
grave  and  Brington,  who  joined  with  his 
father,  Robert  Washington,  in  breaking 
the  entail  and  disposing  of  the  Sulgrave 
property  : 

John  Washington  of  Whitfield  (Co.  Lanes.) 


John  Washington,  =p  Margaret,  d.  of  Robert  Kitson, 
of  Warton.  of  Warton. 


Lawrence  Washington,      =j=  Amy,  d.  of  Robert  Pargiter, 


of  Northampton  and  Sulgrave 


Lmpto: 
(d.  I 


585). 


of  Gretworth 
(d.  1564). 


Robert  Washington,  =p  Elizabeth,  d.  of  Robert  Light, 
of  Sulgrave  (d.  1619).          of  Radway,  Co.  Warwick. 


1 

Lawrence  Washington,  = 
of  Sulgrave  and  Brington 
(d.  1616). 

=  Margaret,  d.  of       Rbt.  Washington  (d. 
Wm.  Butler,  of      1622)  —  Elizabeth 
Tighes,  Sussex.                    Chishull. 

Sir  Wm.                    Sir  . 
Washington.             Washi 

bhn                Rev.  Lawrence  Washington 
ngton.                          of  Purleigh. 

24    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Baker,  in  his  "History  of  Northampton- 
shire," says  that  Lawrence  Washington  went 
to  live  at  Brington  upon  the  sale  of  the 
Sulgrave  property  in  1610.  But,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  far  from  clear  when  he 
took  up  his  residence  in  that  parish  and 
how  long  he  remained  there.  What  we 
know  is  that  he  must  have  been  living 
there  in  1606-7,  in  which  year  the  parish 
register  records  the  baptism  and  burial  of 
a  son,  Gregory.  But  we  know  also  that 
two  years  later  (August  3rd,  1608)  he  had 
a  son,  George  by  name,  baptized  at 
Wormleighton. 

The  former  circumstances  led  Mr.  J.  N. 
Simpkinson,*  a  one-time  rector  of  Brington, 
to  infer  that  Lawrence  Washington  went 
to  live  at  Brington  in  1606-7,  and  remained 
there  until  the  completion  of  the  transfer 
*  Author  of  "  The  Washingtons,"  1860. 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS      25 

of  the  paternal  estate  to  Lawrence  Make- 
peace in  1610,  and  that  then  he  transferred 
himself  and  his  belongings  to  London,  his 
brother  Robert  succeeding  him  as  tenant 
of  the  house  he  had  occupied  at  Brington. 
A  good  deal  of  this,  as  will  be  seen,  is  mere 
supposition. 

Robert  Washington  was  a  resident  at 
Brington  long  before  1610,  a  will  (that  of 
one  John  Robyns,  of  Althorp,  dated  xi.  Jan., 
1601  (24  Eliz.),  still  in  existence,  having  as 
witnesses  Thomas  Campion,  Robert  Wash- 
ington, John  West,  Thomas  Detherick,  and 
Richard  Warwick.  Of  course  it  is  barely 
possible  that  Robert  Washington  was  merely 
a  visitor  at  Brington  or  Althorp  when  he 
thus  put  his  name  to  John  Robyns'  will 
as  a  witness,  though  it  is  hardly  probable. 
We  know  that  he  resided  for  some  time 
at  Wormleighton,  just  over  the  Warwick- 


26    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

shire  border,  and  that  he  was  married 
there  to  Elizabeth  Chishull  (daughter  of 
John  Chishull,  of  Moor  Hall,  Essex), 
February  i9th,  1595.  Between  that  date 
and  1 60 1  he  apparently  took  up  his  resi- 
dence for  good  at  Brington,  where  he  died 
in  1622. 

The  evidence  that  Lawrence  Washington 
spent  much  time  there  is  very  slight — only 
the  baptism  and  burial  of  a  son  there 
(1606),  and  his  own  burial  ten  years  later. 
He  had  a  large  family — eight  sons  and  nine 
daughters  ;  and  the  almost  utter  silence  of 
the  parish  register  respecting  them,  ex- 
cepting his  daughter  Amy,  married  to 
Mr.  Philip  Curtis  in  1620,  leads  one  to 
suppose  that,  though  not  living  all  those 
years  at  Brington,  Lawrence  Washington 
was  not  far  away.  Possibly,  for  the  sake 
of  the  education  of  his  sons,  he  may  have 


WASHINGTONS  OF  NORTHANTS       27 

established  himself  in  some  Midland  town, 
not  far  away,  like  Northampton,  Bedford,  or 
Warwick,  where  there  was  a  good  grammar 
school,  and  from  time  to  time  returned 
for  a  season  to  Brington,  to  be  near  his 
friend  and  patron,  Lord  Spencer. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS 

T3EFORE  saying  more  about  Brington 
^-*  it  will  be  well  to  set  down  what  we 
know  about  Sulgrave  and  its  connection 
with  the  Washingtons.  It  has  been  called 
the  cradle  of  the  family,  and  although  that 
is  a  misnomer,  in  so  far  that  we  know  there 
were  at  least  two  or  three  generations  of 
Washingtons  at  Whitfield  and  Warton,  in 
Lancashire,  yet  it  may  be  taken  as  a  fitting 
designation,  insomuch  as  from  Sulgrave  a 
new  family  arose  having  important  and  far- 
reaching  destinies.  Sulgrave  is  a  typical 
old  English  village,  and,  situated  as  it  is 
in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  and  delightfully 
rural  country,  is  well  worth  a  visit.  It 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  29 

may  be  reached  with  equal  ease  from 
Banbury  (either  driving  or  afoot,  as  the 
happy  pilgrim  elects),  or  from  Helmdon 
and  Moreton  Pinkney  stations.  Nothing 
can  exceed  the  charm  of  a  walk  from  the 
latter  place  via  Culworth,  starting  early, 
if  the  weather  be  warm,  taking  the  lanes 
and  by-ways  quietly,  with  an  eye  for 
every  change  of  scene  and  "scape"  of  sky; 
and  returning,  due  attention  having  been 
given  to  the  place,  when  evening  is  taking 
the  lingering  hour  from  afternoon  and  the 
cottage  chimneys  are  sending  up  tenuous 
pillars  of  smoke  in  token  of  the  day's  work 
done  and  the  evening  meal  preparing.  At 
this  season  the  country-side  is  very  still, 
hardly  a  lark  shaking  the  lazy  air  with  a 
trill  ;  it  is  somewhat  sedate  in  its  moods,  its 
richest  note  of  colour  being  the  scarlet  of 
the  poppy  in  the  corn-fields,  or  it  may  be, 


30    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

if  luck  and  the  gods  favour,  a  patch  of 
that  sweetest  blue  of  all  blue  flowers,  the 
meadow  geranium  (G.  pratense\  gently 
rocking  its  delicate  petals  amid  the  way- 
side grass.  Very  different  is  it  if  the 
pedestrian  choose  the  spring-time  for  his 
pilgrimage.  Then  every  hedgerow  and 
copse  will  have  its  quire,  and  the  descant 
will  here  and  there  touch  the  higher  octave 
of  passion  and  joy,  these  too  echoing  them- 
selves in  the  silent  music  of  the  flowers. 

Arrived  at  Sulgrave,  the  first  object  to 
attract  the  attention  is  the  church,  with  its 
solid-looking  tower,  standing  at  the  west 
end  of  the  village.  It  is,  in  the  main,  in  the 
style  of  architecture  known  as  Decorated, 
and  hence  dates  back  to  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. The  chancel,  with  one  well-preserved 
Perpendicular  window,  is  later,  as  is  like- 
wise the  south  porch,  which  is  dated  1564; 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  31 

while  the  porch  on  the  north  side  is  of 
the  same  period  as  the  earlier  parts  of  the 
edifice,  which  consists,  in  addition  to  the 
chancel,  of  nave  and  north  and  south  aisles, 
these  being  separated  from  the  nave  by  a 
Decorated  arcade  of  four  bays.  Its  square, 
embattled  tower,  with  square  buttresses, 
set  as  it  is  amid  ancestral  elms,  forms  a 
conspicuous  object  in  the  landscape.  Nor 
must  we  omit  to  mention  a  west  door  of 
plain  but  unusual  design. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  the  church  does  not 
rank  high  in  a  county  famous  for  structures 
of  this  kind,  some  of  them  among  the  most 
interesting  in  the  country.  Still  Sulgrave 
church  is  not  without  its  objects  of  special 
interest.  Among  these  must  be  placed  the 
hagioscope,  or  "  squint,"  enabling  persons 
who  were  in  the  south  aisle  to  witness  the 
elevation  of  the  Host.  Then,  on  the  south 


32   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

side  of  the  chancel,  beneath  the  window  of 
Perpendicular  design  above  referred  to,  is 
to  be  seen  a  small  window  provided  with  an 
oaken  shutter,  usually  known  as  a  "  leper's 
window,"  its  purpose  being  to  enable  a 
person  suffering  from  leprosy  to  follow 
the  service  without  entering  the  church. 
On  each  side  of  the  chancel  roof  are 
carved  heads,  supposed  to  be  those  of 
Edward  III.  and  his  Queen  (Philippa). 

Worthy  of  note,  too,  are  the  old  octa- 
gonal font  and  the  Norman  doorway  with 
its  quaint  ball-flower  moulding ;  also,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  altar,  near  the  floor, 
the  small  square  piscina.  Equally  in- 
teresting is  the  ancient  oaken  treasure-chest 
of  the  church,  curiously  banded  athwart 
and  across  with  strips  of  iron.  These  old- 
time  receptacles  for  records,  church  plate, 
vestments,  and  the  like,  are  not  uncommon, 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  33 

though  there  are  not  many  examples  similar 
to  the  one  at  Sulgrave  ;  which,  moreover, 
enjoys  the  distinction  of  having  at  one  time 
served  as  a  hiding-place  in  which  a  local 
gang  of  burglars  and  highwaymen  stored 
their  ill-gotten  gains,  the  parish  clerk  being 
an  accomplice  and  covering  them  and  their 
nefarious  proceedings,  as  it  were,  by  the 
screen  of  his  semi-sacred  character.  The 
rogue  was  condemned  to  death  for  his  part 
in  the  gang's  doings  in  July,  1787,  but 
got  off  with  transportation  for  life.  The 
marauders,  known  as  the  Culworth  gang, 
were  the  terror  of  the  country-side  for 
many  years. 

Interesting  as  are  all  these  various  objects 
and  details  in  the  old  church,  they  are  less 
attractive  to  the  American  pilgrim  than 
some  others  that  have  a  direct  and  very 
personal  relation  to  the  Washingtons  who 
3 


34   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

settled  in  the  village,  carrying  with  them, 
as  all  must,  their  inevitable  sorrows,  which 
here  find  record  in  the  sacred  edifice,  some 
parts  of  it  then  comparatively  recent,  others 
added  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  new  squire, 
probably  with  his  aid.  A  slab  under  the 
east  window  of  the  south  aisle,  still  to  be 
seen,  formerly  contained  memorial  brasses 
of  the  first  Lawrence  Washington  and  his 
family.  They  were  six  in  number,  but 
what  remains  of  them  is  very  imperfect  and 
much  mutilated. 

The  head  of  the  family  is  represented 
wearing  a  close-fitting  doublet,  a  long  loose 
gown  bordered  with  fur  and  having  demi- 
canon  sleeves,  and  large  broad-toed  shoes — 
in  short,  the  ordinary  attire  of  well-to-do 
citizens  in  the  days  of  the  virgin  Queen. 
The  head  of  this  brass  is  missing,  as  is 
the  whole  of  that  representing  the  wife. 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  35 

Fortunately  a  drawing  of  the  whole  has 
been  preserved,  and  from  it  we  can  see 
how  the  wife,  and  also  the  children,  were 
represented.  She  appears  in  a  plain  costume, 
such  as  was  worn  by  women  of  her  rank 
in  Tudor  times.  The  four  sons  and  seven 
daughters  of  these  twain  were  represented 
in  groups,  as  "  weepers,"  as  they  were 
called,  on  two  other  brasses.  The  former 
appear  in  the  long  doublets  and  breeches 
of  the  period,  with  long  hose  and  the 
usual  broad-toed  shoes  ;  the  girls  in  close- 
fitting  caps,  with  gowns  reaching  to  the 
ankles,  secured  by  a  band  round  the  waist. 
The  memorial  slab  was  mutilated  in 
August,  1889,  by  two  well-dressed  individuals 
who  desired  admission  to  the  church  and 
who,  when  gone,  were  found  to  have  carried 
away  the  brasses  of  the  "  weepers."  Time 
has  told,  too,  on  the  brass  representing  the 


36   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

family  coat  of  arms — argent,  two  bars  gules, 
in  chief  three  mullets  of  the  second.  The 
plate  recording  the  interment  is  thus 
inscribed  : 

Here  lyeth  ye  bodys  of  Laurence  Wasshingto, 
Gent,  and  Amee  his  vvyf,  by  whome  he  had  issue 
iiij  sons  &  vij  daughts,  wc  Laurence  dyed  ye 
day  of  an.   15      ,  &  Amee  deceassed  the 

vj  day  of  October  an0  Dni.   1564. 

This  inscription  was  evidently  written 
and  placed  in  situ  on,  or  soon  after,  the 
wife's  death,  the  blanks  being  left  to  be 
filled  in  when  the  husband,  Lawrence,  should 
follow  her  to  their  last  earthly  home.  But 
when,  nineteen  years  later  (1585),  he  came  to 
take  his  place  by  her  side,  the  spaces  for 
the  date  of  death  were  left  unfilled — a 
curious  omission.  Can  it  be  explained  by 
the  supposition  that  the  trouble  which  was 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  37 

ere  long  to  drive  the  family  from  Sulgrave 
was  already  overshadowing  it  ?  Or  was 
there  some  lack  of  business  grip  and  manage- 
ment in  Lawrence's  eldest  son,  and  that 
this  may  account  for  the  omission  referred 
to,  as  well  as  for  the  speedy  declension  of 
the  family's  fortunes  ?  Vain  are  such 
surmises,  however. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  care  has  been 
taken  to  preserve  this  interesting  memorial 
of  the  Washingtons  from  further  hurt  or 
decay,  while  a  reproduction  of  the  original 
inscription  (dating  from  1890)  has  been 
placed  upon  the  wall  above  it  by  the  present 
members  of  the  family. 

From  the  church  let  us  turn  to  what 
remains  of  the  old  Manor-house,  which 
stands  at  the  east  end  of  the  village.  Built 
of  the  stone  of  the  district,  it  was  in  the 
style  of  the  period,  and  of  a  size  suitable 


38    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

for  persons  of  the  rank  and  fortune  of 
Lawrence  Washington.  What  it  was 
originally,  and  the  appearance  it  now 
presents,  are  two  very  different  things. 
Turned  into  a  farmhouse  after  it  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Makepeaces,  it  under- 
went in  course  of  time  many  changes  and 
transformations,  and  not  a  few  disfigure- 
ments. What  remains  of  the  original 
structure  faces  south,  away  from  the  village 
street,  from  which  it  is  approached,  pre- 
senting to  the  view  on  that  side  the  farm- 
yard, out-buildings,  and  other  appurtenances 
of  the  farmer's  calling.  Altogether  it  has 
greatly  descended  from  its  whilom  high 
estate,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  see  in  the 
house  as  it  now  exists  the  home  of  a  man 
of  Lawrence  Washington's  pretensions,  did 
we  not  know  how  humble  were  the  domestic 
arrangements  and  appointments  required 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  39 

in    Tudor    times    in    comparison  with  what 
they  are  to-day. 

The  house  as  it  stands  affords  a  good 
specimen  of  the  domestic  architecture  of 
the  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth  centuries. 
It  is  neither  better  nor  worse  than  many 
other  similar  edifices  of  its  class  and  kind, 
and  shows  that  the  builder,  even  when  he 
decided  to  provide  himself  with  a  house, 
did  not  aspire  too  high.  Some  have  opined 
that  the  original  plan  was  on  a  larger  and  more 
elaborate  scale,  designed  possibly  with  the 
idea  that  fortunate  descendants  might  carry 
it  out,  if  they  thought  fit,  which  however 
they  never  did.  There  are  indications  that 
the  east  wall  of  the  hall  was  not  an  exterior 
wall,  and  it  has  been  surmised  that  the 
building  may  have  extended  some  distance 
to  the  east.  What  of  the  original  structure 
remains  shows  that  all  the  work  connected 


40    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

with  it  was  good  and  substantial,  and  the 
adornments  of  a  tasteful  though  by  no  means 
florid  character.  These  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  make  out,  so  much  have  they 
suffered  from  indifference  and  neglect.  But 
the  general  style  of  these  enrichments  may 
be  gathered  from  the  projecting  bay  con- 
taining what  was  the  entrance  door  on  the 
south.  This  is  gabled,  albeit  with  a  lower 
pitch  than  the  roof  proper.  The  doorway 
has  a  low  Tudor  arch  with  square  mouldings, 
having  the  bars  and  mullets  of  the  Washing- 
ton arms  in  the  spandrels.  Half-way  between 
it  and  a  square  window  above,  with  small 
square  panes,  is  a  shield  in  plaster,  with 
the  arms  defaced.  On  the  right  of  the 
window  is  a  sundial,  and  above  it,  also  in 
plaster,  are  displayed  the  royal  arms  as 
used  by  Queen  Elizabeth  and  bearing  her 
monogram. 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTON'S  41 

The  hall,  which  was  entered  from  the 
south  door,  now  forms  two  rooms  (used 
as  dining  and  sitting-room  respectively). 
The  old  fire-place,  under  a  four-centered 
arch,  and  the  old  mullioned  windows  still 
remain,  as  also  some  other  interesting 
features.  The  old  character  of  the  place, 
however,  has  for  the  most  part  been  com- 
pletely changed.  The  window,  it  should 
be  said,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of 
the  time,  originally  contained  stained  glass 
representing  the  family  arms.*  When  the 
house  was  visited  by  Washington  Irving, 
at  the  beginning  of  last  century,  this  was 
still  there  ;  but  it  has  long  since  been 
removed,  part  of  it  (six  shields)  to  Fawsley 

*  Since  this  was  written  I  learn  that  some  little  time 
ago  a  metal  plate,  which  had  long  been  used  for  domestic 
purposes,  was  discovered  to  bear  the  Washington  arms, 
and  was  handed  to  the  present  representatives  of  the 
family. 


42    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

church,  some  eight  miles  north.  Two  other 
pieces  are  known  to  be  at  Weston  Hall, 
a  few  miles  to  the  north-east.  Another 
characteristic  of  the  place,  which  could  not 
well  be  taken  away,  are  its  stout  oak 
beams  and  flooring.  A  good  deal  of  the 
old  oak  panelling  likewise  remains,  still 
giving  something  of  the  old-time  character 
to  the  house,  and  the  wide  oak  staircase. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  a  closet  in 
the  house  is  associated  with  an  interesting, 
if  doubtful  tradition,  connecting  Queen 
Elizabeth,  as  simple  Princess,  with  the 
place.  The  story  goes  that  here  that 
royal  lady  found  for  a  time  an  asylum, 
when  her  more  religious  than  amiable 
sister  was  very  anxious  to  find  her,  and 
that  on  one  occasion,  when  an  agent  of 
Queen  Mary  paid  a  surprise  visit  to  the 
Manor,  the  future  sovereign  of  these  realms 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  43 

was  fain  to  take  refuge  for  the  night  in  a 
closet,  which  is  said  to  be  still  in  existence. 
Such  at  least  was  the  story  narrated  by 
the  Vicar  of  Culworth,  a  man  brim-full  of 
the  legendary  lore  of  the  district,  to  the 
writer  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit 
to  these  parts,  now  more  than  a  few 
years  ago.* 

*  The  legend  has  found  expression  in  a  ballad  which 
was  published  some  years  ago.  It  is  entitled  "  A  Legend 
of  Queen  Bess,"  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  Sister  Mary  !   Sister  Mary  ! 

Here  I  sit  in  this  dark  niche, 
While  your  henchman,  Mr.  Tresham, 

Moles  the  land  with  subtle  speech. 
a  Thus,  'tis  said,  in  Sulgrave  Manor, 

Once  in  papal  Mary's  reign, 
Hid  and  sighed  Ann  Bullen's  daughter, 

When  for  her  the  queen  was  fain. 
"  Here  I  sit  in  gloom  and  tremor, 

While  he  lurks  and  spies  below, 
Seeking,  for  to  do  you  pleasure, 

Me  in  death's  grim  shrine  to  cow. 
"  But,  dear  sister,  hark  the  whisper 

That  comes  gladly  to  my  soul, 


44    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

While  speaking  of  legends,  a  very  quaint 
one,  with  an  old-world  flavour  about  it,   is 

Bidding  me  be  high  of  courage, 

For  I  shall  escape  your  goal. 
"  Yes,  escape  and  reign,  while  sadly 

You  lie  rotting  in  the  grave — 
Rotting,  sister,  rotting,  rotting 

In  our  father's  England  brave. 
"  Not  to-day,  nor  yet  to-morrow — 

Sister,  call  you  not  to  mind 
How  we  once  drew  straws  for  fortune, 

And  the  straws  to  me  were  kind  ? 
"  Twice  and  thrice  we  drew,  you  mocking, 

And  the  lot  fell  aye  to  me. 
Still  you  mock  and  scorn,  dear  sister, 

But  I  bide  my  destiny. 
"To  my  heart  it  whispers,  whispers — 

Now,  e'en  now  in  this  dark  hole  ! 
Saying,  '  Keep  thy  heart  up  stoutly 

Thou  shall  play  a  queenly  role. 
"'Thou  shalt  reign  and  men  shall  worship, 

Thou  shalt  make  thy  country  great ; 
England,  England  '—so  it  whispers— 

"Neath  thy  sway  shall  go  its  gate— 

" '  Lift  itself,  up  !  up  !  to  splendour 

Till  the  nations  look  aghast  ! ' 
Now  I  sit  in  this  dark  chamber, 

But  I'll  win  to  light  at  last ! " 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  45 

still  told  by  the  old  folk  in  reference  to 
a  slight  elevation  near  the  village,  known 
as  Barrow  Hill.  On  the  top  of  it  used 
to  stand  an  ancient  ash-tree,  so  withered 
and  scarred  that  the  villagers  got  the  idea 
that  it  was  the  haunt  of  witches  and  a 
scene  of  their  unholy  rites  and  revelries. 
Wherefore  it  was  decided  that  it  should 
be  cut  down,  and  a  posse  of  men  pro- 
ceeded, axe  in  hand,  to  effect  their  purpose. 
Barely,  howrever,  had  they  given  two  strokes 
to  the  weird  old  ash  ere  a  cry  was  raised 
that  the  village  was  on  fire.  And  sure 
enough,  on  casting  their  eyes  upon  the 
place,  every  one  saw  it  enveloped  in  flames. 
All  now  rushed  back  to  save  their  homes 
— to  find,  on  reaching  "  town-end,"  that 
they  had  been  deluded,  no  sign  of  fire 
being  then  visible.  Some  returned  to 
Barrow  Hill  to  proceed  with  the  demoli- 


46    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

tion  of  the  tree,  but  when  they  saw  that 
the  gashes  their  axes  had  made  in  the 
old  trunk  had  been  healed,  they  opened 
their  mouths  in  amaze,  and  hastily  left  the 
spot.  And  henceforward,  it  is  said,  no 
man  of  Sulgrave  ever  ventured  to  raise 
a  finger  against  the  "  unked "  ash  of 
Barrow  Hill. 

There  are  many  other  features  of  the 
place  and  neighbourhood  that  it  would  be 
interesting  to  dwell  upon  did  space  permit 
— the  "  immemorial  elms,"*  the  silence  as 
of  waiting  that  hangs  about  the  church- 
yard, the  rustic  bonhomie  of  the  village- 
folk,  the  history  with  which  the  whole 

*  In  which,  be  it  noted,  Washington  Irving,  with  the 
eye  of  the  nature-lover  and  poet,  marked  a  colony  of 
rooks,  "  those  strange  adherents  of  old  family  abodes," 
which  still  "  hovered  and  cawed  about  their  hereditary 
nests,"  no  doubt  in  their  ancient  tongue  making 
preachment  anent  the  vicissitudes  of  things  human. 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  WASHINGTONS  47 

district  is  crowded.  Edgecott  Park,  where 
Charles  I.,  with  his  sons  Charles  and  James, 
lodged  the  night  before  the  battle  of  Edge- 
hill,  but  a  stone's-throw,  as  it  were,  over 
the  Warwickshire  border,  is  within  an  hour 
or  two's  walk.  Nor  is  Wormleighton  much 
farther — Wormleighton,  which  is  much  more 
interesting  to  us  just  now ;  for  here  stands 
the  ancient  and  interesting  Manor  House 
of  the  Spencers,  already  referred  to  as  the 
original  home  of  Sir  John  Spencer,  who 
took  to  wife  Catherine,  the  daughter  of 
Sir  Thomas  Kitson,  and  whose  descendant, 
Sir  Robert  Spencer,  the  special  and  par- 
ticular friend  of  the  Washingtons,  was 
created  Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton  in 
1603.  Here  too,  as  we  have  seen,  resided 
for  a  season  both  Lawrence  and  Robert 
Washington,  ere  they  went  to  Brington. 


CHAPTER    III 

WORMLEIGHTON 

r  I  "HERE  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that 
•*•  '  the  sons  of  Robert  Washington,  who 
entered  into  possession  of  the  Sulgrave 
estate  on  the  death  of  his  father,  one  time 
mayor  of  Northampton,  in  1584,  early  came 
under  the  protection  and  patronage  of  Sir 
Robert  Spencer,  afterwards  (1603)  created 
Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton.  Robert, 
Lord  Spencer,  was  the  fourth  in  descent 
from  Sir  John  Spencer,  Kt.,  who  in  Henry 
VII.'s  reign  purchased  the  manor  of  Sir 
William  Cope,  of  Hanwell  (a  cousin  by 
marriage),  and  built  himself  a  handsome 


WORMLEIGHTON  49 

mansion  thereon.  Of  the  foundation  of  this 
house  Dugdale  says  : 

"3  Sept.  22  Hen.  VII.  (1507)  the  said 
Will.  Cope  *  sold  his  lordship  to  John 
Spencer,  Esquier,  who  soon  after  began  the 
structure  of  a  faire  mannour  house,  wherein, 
when  that  inquisition  was  taken  (9  &  10 
Hen.  VIII.  1518-19)  he  had  his  residence, 
with  Ix  persons  of  his  family,  being  a  good 
benefactor  to  the  church  in  ornaments  and 
other  things." 

Wormleighton,  as    already   stated,  is  just 

*  The  manor  was  for  many  generations  in  the  Mont- 
fort,  or  Mountford,  family  (of  whom  Sir  Simon  de 
Montfort,  who  summoned  the  first  representative  Par- 
liament in  1265,  was  the  most  distinguished  member). 
The  Montforts  got  into  trouble  with  Henry  VII.,  and 
the  head  of  the  family  was  executed  and  his  property 
seized  by  the  king  in  1495.  Three  years  later  Henry 
gave  Wormle'ighton  to  William  Cope,  Esq.,  "  coferer  of 
the  household  to  the  king,  to  be  held  in  socage,  paying 
20  marks  per  annum  into  the  exchequer." 

4 


50    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

over  the  Warwickshire  border,  about  one 
and  a  half  miles  north-east  of  Fenny  Compton 
station,  and  stands  on  comparatively  high 
ground,  being  431  feet  above  sea-level, 
the  ridge,  indeed,  forming  the  watershed 
between  the  Avon  and  the  Cherwell.  The 
parish,  through  which  runs  the  Oxford 
canal,  is  a  small  one,  so  far  as  population 
goes,  the  village  numbering  barely  two 
hundred  souls.*  The  church,  which  stands 
a  small  stretch  north  of  the  Manor-house,  is 
dedicated  to  St.  Peter,  and  was  given  by 
Geoffrey  de  Clinton  to  the  canons  of  Kenil- 

*  The  "  old  town "  of  Wormleighton  was  situated 
some  little  distance  from  the  present  village.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  was  destroyed  and  its  people 
sent  adrift  by  the  William  Cope  who  became  possessed 
of  the  estate  tempo  Henry  VII.,  and  later  sold  it  to 
John  Spencer.  As  we  have  seen,  the  great  idea  then 
was  sheep-farming,  and  so  he  cleared  his  estate  of  men 
to  make  room  for  sheep,  as  landowners  to-day  clear 
theirs  to  make  room  for  game. 


WORMLEIGHTON  51 

worth.  It  is  built  of  Hornton  stone,  and 
consists  of  a  nave  with  aisles,  chancel,  and 
west  tower,  chiefly  of  the  transition  Norman 
period.  The  nave  and  aisles  are  connected 
by  three  bays  in  the  style  of  the  period 
named.  The  clerestory  is  of  later  (Perpen- 
dicular) work.  The  north  aisle  shows  good, 
though  not  uniform,  windows  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  There  is,  too,  one  four- 
teenth-century window  in  the  south  aisle,  the 
rest  being  modern.  The  chancel  arch  may 
be  of  the  same  period,  although  the  rudely 
cut  capitals  seem  to  suggest  an  earlier  date. 

An  old  carved  oak  rood-screen  (fifteenth 
century),  with  late  restorations,  divides  the 
nave  from  the  chancel.  Report  or  tradition 
says  it  was  removed  from  the  Manor-house  ; 
but  it  is  more  likely,  from  its  style,  to  have 
been  brought  from  some  religious  house 
closed  by  Henry  VIII.'s  decree.  It  is  a 


52    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

handsome  piece  of  work,  though  somewhat 
too  large  for  its  present  position,  and  shows 
workmanship  of  a  specially  high  order.  In 
the  chancel  are  monuments  to  members  of 
the  Spencer  family,  among  them  being  one 
(on  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel,  adorned 
with  shields)  to  "John  Spencer,  Esquire,  son 
and  heir  of  Sir  Robert  Spencer,  Knight, 
Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton,  which  John 
Spencer  departed  this  life  at  Blois  in  France, 
the  sixt  of  August  .  .  .  1610"  (in  his 
twentieth  year).  Near  the  altar  rails  is  a 
circular  stone  bearing  an  inscription  to  the 
effect  that  a  portion  of  the  remains  of  the 
said  Sir  Robert  repose  there.  Beneath  a 
canopy  in  the  north  wall  of  the  aisle  is  an 
empty  tomb.  The  arms  of  the  Spencers  are 
seen  on  the  wall  above  the  belfry  arch. 

The    tower    shows   as  early  work  as  any 
part  of  the  edifice,  being  of  early  thirteenth 


WORMLEIGHTON  53 

century,  if  not  actually  of  twelfth  century 
date.  The  door  is  certainly  of  the  latter 
century.  Note  also  the  grotesquely  carved 
corbels  supporting  the  low  belfry  story. 
Other  features  worthy  of  note  are  (in 
chancel)  the  carved  grotesques  of  the  bench- 
ends,  all  of  good  early  work,  and  other 
designs  and  geometrical  ornamentation  ;  the 
carved  oak  panelling  round  the  sanctuary  ; 
the  tesselated  pavement  (thirteenth  century) 
of  the  nave  and  aisles,  bearing  the  arms  of 
the  Botelers  of  Oversley  and  Wemme  ;  and 
the  font,  a  plain  truncated  cone  on  a  quite 
recent  pedestal.  There  is,  too,  a  fine  old 
carved  chest,  now  standing  at  the  east  end 
of  the  north  aisle. 

The  Manor-house  was  largely  destroyed 
during  the  Civil  Wars,  and  only  a  portion 
of  the  original  edifice,  now  a  farm-house, 
still  exists.  It  is  an  embattled  structure  of 


54    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

two  stories,  with  mullioned  windows,  now 
mostly  blocked  up.  The  tower  and  gate- 
house, of  stone,  however,  remain  intact. 
Here  we  have  a  central  archway  with  a 
room  over  it.  On  the  font  are  the  royal 
arms,  and  at  the  back  the  Spencer  arms 
and  motto,  "  Dieu  defende  le  droit." 

The  house,  built  in  Henry  VI I. 's  days,  is 
of  the  usual  flat  red  brick  of  the  time,  with 
stone  dressings,  and  must,  in  its  original 
state,  have  been  a  very  handsome  edifice,  of 
good  proportions  and  fine  style.  The  leads 
and  battlements  above,  with  covered  niches, 
are  in  keeping  with  the  semi-defensive  type 
of  house  of  Tudor  days.  The  north  door, 
though  now  without  a  porch,  appears  by  the 
proportions  of  the  lobby  and  its  panelled 
ceiling  to  have  been  the  main  entrance 
(although  some  are  of  opinion  that  the 
original  door,  now  blocked  up,  was  a  little 


WORMLEIGHTON  55 

west  of  the  existing  entrance).  A  postern 
on  the  south  leads  to  the  hall,  a  fine  plain 
room,  31  ft.  long  by  22  ft.  wide  (now  used 
as  a  brewhouse),  lighted  on  the  north  side 
by  two  large  windows  of  four  lights,  each 
arched  in  the  head  and  divided  by  transoms, 
and  at  the  east  end  by  a  handsome  bay- 
window  of  six  lights,  arched  and  divided 
like  the  others. 

Above  this  apartment  is  a  room  of  the 
same  size  as  the  one  below,  having  gilt 
stars  on  the  lintels  and  head  of  the  former 
doorway,  and  in  the  panels  over  one  of 
the  windows,  and  hence  called  the  "  Star 
Chamber."  *  It  was  originally  lighted  like 

*  In  an  interesting  book  recently  published  ("  Nooks 
and  Corners  of  England  "),  there  is  a  curious  statement — 
altogether  unfounded,  as  we  think — to  the  effect  that, 
though  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  subjected  to  a  mock 
trial  at  Fotheringay,  she  was  actually  condemned  "in 
the  Star  Chamber  at  Westminster,"  which  "fine  old 


56   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  one  below,  -  but  the  bay-window  has 
been  removed  and  the  space  walled  up. 
In  it  is  an  interesting  fireplace  of  coloured 
stone,  in  the  spandrels  whereof  are  two  plain 
Spencer  shields.  The  chamber  is  reached 
by  means  of  a  newel  staircase  in  the  south- 
west angle. 

On  the  south  (or  outer)  front  of  the 
tower  and  gatehouse,  already  mentioned,  are 
the  royal  arms  with  crest,  supporters,  and 
motto ;  on  the  north  side  three  shields ; 
while  on  the  east  and  west  sides  appear 
the  arms  of  the  Spencers  (with  seven 
quarterings)  and  the  Willoughbys  respec- 
tively, both  with  date  1613.  On  the  east 
side  is  a  square  tower,  45  ft.  in  height, 
having  an  interior  staircase  enclosing  a  well 

room,"  we  are  told,  "  may  yet  be  seen  not  very  many 
miles  away,  at  Wormleighton,  near  the  Northamptonshire 
border  of  south-east  Warwickshire."  One  would  like  to 
know  on  what  authority  this  assertion  is  founded. 


WORMLEIGHTON  57 

designed  to  accommodate  the  weights  of  a 
curious  old  clock  contained  in  the  upper 
storey  which  strikes  the  hour  but  is  without 
a  dial.  From  the  roof  of  the  tower  a  fine 
view  may  be  had  of  the  surrounding  country, 
extending  on  a  fine  day  as  far  west  as  the 
Malvern  Hills. 

The  house  was  garrisoned  by  Royalist 
troops,  under  Prince  Rupert,  the  night 
before  the  battle  of  Edgehill  (October  23rd, 
1642),  and  on  January  7th,  1646,  Dugdale 
records  in  his  diary  :  "  Wormleighton  House, 
in  Warwickshire,  burnt  by  His  Majesty's 
forces  of  Banbury  to  prevent  the  rebels 
making  it  a  garrison" — which  event  accounts 
for  the  present  greatly  reduced  size  of  the 
house. 

The  church  registers  contain  the  record 
of  the  marriage  of  Robert  Washington, 
the  second  son  of  Robert  Washington,  of 


58   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Sulgrave,  and  Elizabeth  Chishull.  This 
event  took  place  on  February  iQth,  1595. 
The  church  books  record  also  the  baptism 
of  George  Washington,  a  younger  son  of 
Lawrence  Washington,  gentleman,  on 
August  3rd,  1608.  It  would  appear,  as 
already  stated,  that  Robert  Washington  was 
the  first  to  go  to  Wormleighton,  and  that 
his  brother  Lawrence  took  up  his  residence 
there  after  Robert  had  gone  to  Brington. 
This  transference  of  domicile  must  have 
taken  place  as  early  as  1601-2,  or  even 
earlier,  as  the  extant  will  of  Sir  John  Spencer, 
made  at  "Oldthrappe"  (Althorp),  and  proved 
on  January  nth,  1599  (42  Eliz.  would  be 
ifto)»  bequeaths  to  "  Elizabeth  Washington, 
wife  of  Robert  Washington,  of  Great  Brin- 
ton,  in  the  Co.  of  Northampton,"  the  sum  of 
twenty  pounds  "  in  regard  of  her  pains  about 
me  in  my  sickness."  It  would  appear  from 


WORMLEIGHTON  59 

this  that  as  early  as  1599  Robert  Washington 
was  established  at  Brington,  and  that  the 
relations  between  his  family  and  that  of 
the  lord  of  the  manor  were  so  intimate  that 
his  wife  practically  took  charge  of  the  aged 
knight's  sick-room  in  his  last  illness.  Pos- 
sibly the  words  of  the  will  may  not  bear 
such  interpretation,  although  they  seem  to 
do  so ;  for,  as  we  know  there  were  no  trained 
nurses  in  those  days,  at  least  not  in  the 
sense  that  we  understand  the  term  to-day, 
every  woman,  gentle  as  well  as  simple, 
had  to  be  nurse  on  occasion  according 
to  her  capacity. 

We  do  not  know  what  took  the  Washing- 
tons  to  Wormleighton,  but  may  readily 
surmise  that  it  was  the  genial  kinship  and 
kindly  patronage  of  the  Spencers,  ever  a 
generous  and  noble-minded  race — the  same 
kindly  patronage  which  continued  through 


60   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

the  next  two  generations  of  Washingtons. 
We  are  equally  ignorant  as  to  where  the 
sons  of  Robert  Washington  could  have 
dwelt  at  Wormleighton.  Except  the  manor 
there  appears  to  have  been  no  house  in  the 
parish  traditionally  said  or  likely  to  have 
been  inhabited  by  them,  most  of  the  farm- 
houses at  the  present  time  being  of  com- 
paratively recent  date.  There  was  a  house 
at  Watergall,  two  miles  to  the  north-west 
(whereof  only  the  foundations  remain),  which 
was  suitable  for  gentlemen  of  their  standing, 
but  practically  nothing  is  known  of  its 
history,  not  even  if  it  was  of  the  Spencer 
holding,  or  belonging  to  another  family. 

When  the  Washingtons  first  went  to  live 
at  Wormleighton  Sir  John  Spencer  was  the 
lord  of  the  manor,  as  also  of  that  of  Althorp. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Sir  Robert  Spencer 
(Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton),  who, 


WORMLEIGHTON  61 

according  to  repute,  was  of  enormous 
wealth  (having  the  most  money  of  any  man 
in  England,  said  report).  He  was  a  man, 
too,  of  great  interest  and  influence  in  many 
ways.  His  wife  was  Margaret,  daughter 
and  co-heiress  of  Sir  Francis  Willoughby, 
of  Wollaton,  Nottinghamshire,  and  her  sister 
Abigail  became  the  wife  of  William  Pargiter, 
of  Greatworth,  or  Gretworth,  on  the  Oxford 
border,  near  Banbury,  a  cousin  of  the 
Washingtons.  They  were  married  at  Bring- 
ton  on  April  26th,  1601,  and  the  registers 
of  Wormleighton  record  the  burial  there  of 
the  said  Abigail  Pargiter  on  October  i2th, 
1654  (at.  78). 

Hence  we  can  well  understand  this  noble 
kinsman  extending  a  kindly  hand  to  the 
grandsons  of  the  first  Northamptonshire 
Washington  in  their  trouble,  and  giving 
them  a  welcome  to  Brington,  so  intimately 


62    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

associated  with  both  Robert  and    Lawrence 
Washington. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  in  connection 
with  these  notes  on  Wormleighton  that  the 
Spencer  house  there  figures  in  Prince 
Rupert's  diary  of  the  events  that  led  up  to 
the  battle  of  Edgehill.  Warburton  (in  his 
"  Memoirs  of  Prince  Rupert ")  gives  the 
following  account  of  what  happened  :  "  On 
the  22nd  October  Prince  Rupert  advanced  to 
Lord  Spencer's  at  Wormleighton ;  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  regiment  being  quartered  in  some 
villages  under  Wormleighton  Hills.  At  this 
time,  such  was  the  scarcity  of  information, 
or  the  want  of  skill  in  collecting  it,  that 
the  two  great  armies  were  in  total  ignorance 
of  each  other's  movements.  Lord  Digby 
was  sent  forward  in  the  afternoon  with 
four  hundred  horse  to  reconnoitre,  but  re- 
turned with  information  that  all  was  quiet. 


WORMLEIGHTON  63 

The  prince's  quartermaster,  however,  as  he 
entered  Wormleighton  to  arrange  quarters 
for  the  troops,  encountered  the  quartermaster 
of  Essex,  just  arrived  there  on  a  similar 
business  with  a  party  of  the  enemy.  The 
Cavaliers  fell  suddenly  upon  this  party,  took 
twelve  prisoners,  and  returned  in  hot  haste 
to  Rupert.  From  them  he  learned  that  the 
main  body  of  the  enemy  occupied  the  town 
of  Kineton,  only  four  miles  distant."  Later 
on,  in  his  account  of  the  battle,  Warburton 
says,  "  Aston's  dragoons,  under  Lisle  and 
Ewins,  skirmished  also  on  the  left;  Wash- 
ington on  the  right." 

We  do  not  know  for  certain  who  this 
particular  Washington  may  have  been,  but 
suppose  it  was  Colonel  Henry  Washington, 
son  and  heir  of  Sir  William  Washington, 
who  in  the  following  year  (1643)  was  with 
Prince  Rupert  at  the  storming  of  Bristol, 


64   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

and  who,  when  the  assailants  were  beatei 
off  at  every  point,  broke  in  with  a  handful 
of  infantry  at  a  weak  part  of  the  wall,  made 
room  for  a  horse  to  follow,  and  so  opened 
the  path  to  victory.  He  distinguished  him- 
self still  more  by  his  defence  of  Worcester 
(1646),  when  elevated  to  the  command  there 
on  the  capture  of  its  governor  by  the  enemy. 
But  whether  this  Washington  or  another,  he 
must  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the 
position  and  importance  of  Lord  Spencer's 
house  at  Wormleighton — who  of  the  Wash- 
ington kin  could  be  otherwise  ? — and  the 
thought  occurs,  could  it  have  been  on  his 
suggestion  that  a  troop  was  sent  to  seize 
the  place  in  order  to  protect  it  and  its 
owner,*  a  known  Royalist,  from  the  enemy  ? 

*  Henry,  third  Baron  Spencer,  created  Earl  r 
Sunderland,  June  8th,  1643,  and  died  fighting  for  tl 
king  at  the  battle  of  Newbury  the  same  year  (Sep 
tember  2oth). 


WORMLEIGHTON  65 

v  There  was  another  in  the  encounter  at 
Edgehill — one  indeed  who  lost  his  life 
there — who  probably  knew  the  famous  house 
at  Wormleighton  as  well  as  Washington  ; 
he  was,  at  any  rate,  a  close  and  honoured 
friend  of  the  Washingtons,  and  was,  as  we 
shall  see  later,  not  without  his  influence 
upon  the  fortunes  of  some  members  of  the 
family.  This  was  Sir  Edmund  Verney, 
of  Middle  Claydon,  Bucks,  who  on  that 
fatal  day  carried  the  king's  standard  into 
the  fight,  and  lost  it  (though  it  was  after- 
wards recovered),  the  hand  that  held  it 
aloft  being  severed  at  the  wrist  by  a 
sword-cut.  Whence  the  legend  of  the 
neighbourhood  that  he  used  ever  there- 
after to  "  walk  "  on  the  day  of  the  battle 
Poking  for  his  lost  hand,  as  set  forth 
,1  the  ballad,  "  Sir  Edmund  Verney's 
Ghost "  : 


66    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

There's  one  that  walks  the  battle-field 

Secure,  at  dead  of  night, 
On  every  anniversary 

Of  Edgehill's  bloody  fight. 

His  coat  of  mail  is  rusty, 

His  countenance  full  wan, 
And  all  so  baleful  gleam  his  eyes, 

He  seems  no  mortal  man. 

He  bears  no  helmet  on  his  head, 
His  hair  is  stained  with  earth : 

One  saw  him  in  the  moony  haze 
And  never  more  knew  mirth. 

His  hair,  with  worm-casts  all  defiled, 
Hangs  o'er  his  eyes  of  glede ; 

With  which  he  searches  o'er  the  ground, 
As  poor  men  search  in  need. 

What  seeks  he  thus  with  such  dread  calm 
Beneath  the  winking  stars  ? 

Seeks  he  amid  the  tussocky  grass 
Some  boon  to  heal  his  scars? 

Scars  has  he  :  lo,  the  handless  wrist — 
That  still  is  red  with  gore  ! 

It  bleeds,  it  drips,  though  in  his  heart 
Shall  never  blood  be  more. 


WORMLEIGHTON  67 

A  Cavalier  so  gay  was  he 

Who  sang  on  that  fatal  day 
For  that  the  proud  standard  of  the  King 

He  bore  into  the  fray. 

"  I'll  carry  it  in,"  he  said  in  pride, 

"And  bring't  all  safely  out, 
Or  never  I'll  leave  the  foughten  field 

Till  the  trumps  of  Judgment  shout." 

He  bore  it  in,  but  another  than  he 

It  was  who  bore  it  thence, 
For  off  'twas  lopped  with  his  stalwart  fist 

As  he  fell  'neath  the  pressure  dense. 

Then  was  he  trampled  in  blood  and  mire 

Until  all  calm  in  death ; 
Yet  every  time  the  battle-day  comes 

He  walks  as  though  with  breath. 

He  walks  and  seeks  for  the  severed  hand 
That  held  the  King's  standard  high, 

For  he  must  carry  it  out  again 
Ere  the  trumps  of  Judgment  cry. 

He  walks  by  night  on  that  battle-day, 
But  ne'er  what  he  seeks  will  find — 

'Twas  ta'en  by  a  witch  of  Wormleighton 
For  the  cure  of  a  son  that  pined. 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  whilst  speaking  of 


68   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

Wormleighton,  that  in  the  interesting  old 
(Dec.)  church  of  Fenny  Compton,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  altar,  is  a  brass  bearing 
the  inscription  : 

Here  lyeth  buried  the  bodie  of  Richard  Willis, 
of  Fenny  Compton  in  the  countye  of  Wanvicke 
gent,  sonne  of  Ambrose  Willis  deceased,  which 
said  Richard  had  by  Hester  his  wife,  five  children, 
that  is  to  say,  George,  William,  Richard,  Judithe 
and  Marie,  all  now  lyvinge,  who  deceased  the 
tenth  day  of  June  1597. 

These  Willises  afterwards  emigrated  to 
America,  and  among  their  descendants  was 
Nathaniel  Parker  Willis  (1806-1867),  whose 
name  became  a  household  word  in  his  own 
country,  and  hardly  less  known  in  England, 
for  his  many  graceful  writings,  chief  of 
which,  perhaps,  must  be  reckoned  his 
"  Pencillings  by  the  Way." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON 

A  S  we  have  seen  there  were  two 
-^*  Washingtons,  grandsons  of  Lawrence 
Washington  of  Northampton  and  Sulgrave, 
whose  names  were  associated  with  the  parish 
of  Brington,  Lawrence  and  Robert.  Baker, 
in  his  "  History  of  Northamptonshire,"  says 
that  Lawrence,  after  the  sale  of  the  Sulgrave 
estate  (in  1610),  "  retired  to  Brington,  where 
he  died."  Mr.  Simpkinson,  the  one-time 
Rector  of  Brington,  believed  this  to  be  a 
mistake,  pointing  to  the  baptism  and  burial 
of  Gregory  Washington,  a  son  of  Lawrence's, 
in  1606-7,  as  proof  that  the  latter  was 

residing  at  Brington  as  early  as   1606.     He 
69 


70    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

held,  therefore,  that  Lawrence  Washington's 
residence  at  Brington  began  or  had  begun 
in  1606,  and  that  it  was  terminated  by  the 
sale  of  the  Sulgrave  estate ;  which  (as  he 
was  induced  to  join  in  cutting  off  the  entail) 
was  attended  with  some  immediate  advantage 
to  himself.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  "  on  his 
departure  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Robert,  who  would  thus  have  had  twelve 
years  of  residence  to  justify  the  expression 
employed  in  his  epitaph."  But  it  is  apparent 
from  the  will  witnessed  by  Robert  in  1601, 
and  from  the  will  of  Sir  John  Spencer, 
proved  in  1599,  which  gives  a  legacy  to 
Elizabeth  Washington,  Robert's  wife,  for 
attending  him  in  his  last  illness,  that  the 
second  brother  was  a  resident  in  the  parish 
many  years  prior  to  1610. 

It    would    appear,    therefore,    that    both 
Robert  and  Lawrence  were  at  one  and  the 


THE   WASHINGTONS   OF  BRINGTON  71 

same  time  living  in  the  parish  of  Brington, 
that  is,  from  1606  to  1610,  if  Mr.  Simpkin- 
son's  conjecture  is  a  right  one  in  regard  to 
Lawrence,  and  again  in  1616  (if  not  earlier) 
when  the  last-named  died  and  was  buried 
there.  This  raises  a  very  difficult  question, 
one  which  Mr.  Simpkinson  found  very  hard 
of  solution  when  he  supposed  that  Robert 
only  went  to  live  in  the  parish  after  Lawrence 
had  left  (to  reside  in  London,  as  he  con- 
jectured, for  the  convenience  of  educating 
his  sons).  It  is  the  question  as  to  where 
the  two  brothers  could  have  found  house- 
room  at  one  and  the  same  time,  when 
Mr.  Simpkinson  found  it  so  difficult  to 
allocate  a  place  for  one  ?  The  one-time 
rector  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  small 
house,  of  a  style  above  that  of  the  generality 
of  houses  in  the  village  of  Little  Brington, 
and,  according  to  the  date  which  it  bears,  built 


72    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

in  1606,  was  the  one  inhabited  by  Lawrence 
Washington.  But  if  such  was  the  case, 
where  did  his  brother  Robert  live  during 
the  twenty  or  more  years  that  he  was  a 
resident  in  the  parish  ? 

The  question  appears  impossible  of  solu- 
tion at  this  distance  of  time.  But  one 
conjecture  may  be  hazarded.  It  is  this  : 
Mr.  Simpkinson,  in  his  book,  "  The  Wash  - 
ingtons,"  tells  us  of  a  gentleman's  house 
formerly  existing  in  Little  Brington,  only  a 
portion  of  which  remained  in  his  day,  and 
that  used  as  a  labourer's  cottage.  It  was 
originally  the  manor-house  of  the  village, 
and  belonged  to  the  Bernard  family.  "  But," 
he  says,  "  it  would  seem  that  it  was  already 
decayed  and  deserted  at  the  time  we  speak 
of;  for  there  is  no  trace  in  the  parish 
register  of  the  Bernards  or  other  gentle- 
man's family  having  lived  there  between 


THE   WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  73 

the  years  1558  and  1606;  nor  did  it  belong 
to  Lord  Spencer  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
having  been  separated  from  the  manor  when 
the  latter  was  sold  to  him,  and  having 
probably  been  bought  by  one  of  the  yeomen 
in  the  parish  as  a  residence  for  himself." 

Such  is  Mr.  Simpkinson's  statement,  but 
if  a  yeoman  could  have  purchased  the  house 
as  a  residence  for  himself,  might  not  Robert 
Washington  (or  his  brother)  have  bought  or 
rented  it  from  the  then  owner  for  his 
residence  ?  We  can  only  ask  the  question. 
Only  by  the  assumption  that  one  or  the 
other  of  them  did  so  buy  or  rent  the  old 
manor-house  can  we  get  over  the  difficulty 
of  finding  a  place  of  residence  for  the  two 
in  the  parish  of  Brington  during  the  years 
that  they  were  both  residents. 

Having  said  so  much  we  must  dismiss 
the  subject  as  being  involved  in  a  mystery 


74   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

too  dark  to  be  penetrated,  and  give  what 
details  we  have  about  the  other  house, 
known  since  the  issue  of  Mr.  Simpkinson's 
book  as  the  "  Washington  House,"  and  in 
which,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  either 
Lawrence  or  Robert  did  live. 

Little  Brington  is  about  half  a  mile  south 
of  Great  Brington,  and  the  Washington 
House  is  situated  in  the  village  street,  from 
which,  as  will  be  seen  from  our  illustration, 
it  is  divided  by  no  court  or  garden.  It  is 
a  simple  structure  with  a  high-pitched  gable 
and  thatched  roof,  but  having  certain  architec- 
tural features  that  indicate  beyond  question 
that  it  was  originally  built  for  a  family 
above  the  ordinary  run  of  the  village  folk. 
For  instance,  its  four  lower  windows  in  the 
front  are  mullioned,  and  there  is  a  square- 
headed  door  with  moulded  dripstone — features 
possessed  by  no  other  dwelling  in  the 


THE   WASHINGTON^  OF  BRINGTON  75 

hamlet.  Above  the  doorway  appears  a  slab 
bearing  an  inscription  fraught  with  a  world 
of  pathos  : 

THE   LORD   GEVETH 

THE   LORD   TAKETH 

AWAY  BLESSED  BE  THE 

NAME  OF  THE  LORD 

CONSTRVCTA 

1606. 

Speculation  has  been  busy  as  to  whether 
these  lines  had  reference  to  the  family  mis- 
fortune in  having  to  dispose  of  Sulgrave, 
or  whether  they  referred  to  the  death  of  the 
child  Gregory,  the  son  of  Lawrence  and  his 
wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  William  Butler 
of  Tighes  (or  Tees  as  it  is  written  in  the 
inscription  over  his  tomb),  Sussex,  who  was 
buried  at  Great  Brington,  January 
1606-7. 


76    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Internally  the  house  has  been  much  altered 
to  adapt  it  to  modern  requirements ;  but 
the  old-fashioned  staircases,  with  sturdy  oaken 
supports,  remain  as  when  first  built.  The 
rooms  are  low  and  quaint-looking,  the  upper 
ones  lighted  by  small  windows  close  to  the 
eaves.  One  of  the  bedrooms  shows  the  old 
timbers  supporting  the  roof  and  ceiling.  The 
big  crossbeam  appears  to  stop  short  about 
the  centre  of  the  room,  and  immediately 
beyond  a  modern  partition  screens  off  the 
room  from  the  staircase  and  landing.  The 
latter  are  quite  plain,  and,  with  the  old  beams, 
oaken  floors,  panelling  and  downstairs  cup- 
boards, are  undoubtedly  of  early  date.  There 
is  no  indication  of  anything  in  the  way  of 
elaborate  ornament  having  been  attempted. 
A  beam  in  one  of  the  lower  rooms  has  been 
moulded  on  its  sides,  but  that  is  all.  Of 
course,  the  whole  has  been  greatly  altered 


THE   WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  77 

internally  to  adapt  it  as  much  as  possible 
to  the  needs  of  the  families  of  the  two 
working  men  who  now  occupy  the  house. 

At  the  back  there  is  a  good  stretch  of 
garden,  and,  viewed  from  this  point,  the 
place  seems  to  retain  something  of  its  ancient 
quality  and  gentility.  It  was  doubtless  here 
that  an  old  sundial,  discovered  some  years 
ago  in  a  neighbouring  garden  and  bearing 
the  arms  of  the  family,  formerly  held  its 
gnomon  (now  gone)  to  the  sun  and  told 
its  silent  story  of  the  hours.  It  is  now  some 
sixteen  or  eighteen  years  since  Mr.  Wykes, 
an  old  resident,  noticed  that  the  stone,  which 
is  said  to  have  been  in  the  garden  for  at 
least  forty  years,  was  a  sundial ;  but  it  was 
reserved  for  Mr.  A.  L.  Y.  Morley,  the 
agent  of  Lord  Spencer,  to  find  out  its  real 
importance. 

It  is  a  round  slab  of  sandstone,  apparently 


78   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

from  the  neighbouring  Harleston  quarry,  and 
is  i6J  inches  in  diameter  and  3  inches  thick, 
chamfered  on  the  lower  edge.  The  lines, 
figures,  and  shield  shown  in  our  illustration 
are  incised  about  Yg-th  of  an  inch  in  depth. 
Two  of  the  mullets,  or  stars,  on  the  shield 
are  hardly  decipherable,  having  been  greatly 
worn  of  late  years.  Formerly  they  were 
much  more  distinct.  In  the  centre  of  the 
shield  (the  fesse  point)  there  are  indications 
of  a  crescent,  which  is  the  heraldic  sign  of 
cadency,  indicating  a  second  son,  and  can 
be  seen  on  the  memorial-stone  to  Robert 
Washington  in  the  church. 

Below  the  shield  are  faint  indications  of 
incised  letters  which  were  at  first  made  out 
to  be  R.  W. — and  held  of  course  to  stand 
for  Robert  Washington — but,  from  a  careful 
examination  recently  made  (July  25th,  1907), 
there  appear  to  be  three  letters,  thus :  RWL. 


THE   WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  79 

which  leads  one  to  question  whether  they 
could  have  been  meant  to  stand  for  Robert 
and  'Lisbeth  Washington.  'Lisbeth,  of 
course,  is  the  familiar — and  at  one  time 
very  common — abbreviation  of  the  name 
Elizabeth. 

As  to  the  village  of  Little  Brington  itself, 
it  is,  like  its  larger  neighbour,  Great  Brington, 
charmingly  rural  and  picturesque,  with  its 
well-kept  cottages,  quaint  well,  covered  by 
a  conical  thatched  roof  supported  by  wooden 
pillars,  its  spacious  green,  and  its  general 
air  of  quietude  and  repose.  There  is  nothing 
of  the  sordidness  and  decay  about  it  so  mani- 
fest in  many  English  villages  to-day.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  Great  Brington,  and, 
indeed,  of  all  the  demesnes  under  the  sway 
of  the  noble  earl  who  is  the  present  owner 
of  the  Spencer  estates,  who  has  ever  set 
an  example  to  thousands  of  his  class  by 


80   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  way  he  has  provided  for  the  good 
housing  and  general  comfort  of  all  his 
tenants. 

Of  Great  Brington  ,  it  may  be  said  with 
truth  that  there  are  not  many  more  picturesque 
villages  in  the  English  Midlands.  The  whole 
of  the  country  hereabout,  indeed  the  whole  of 
Northamptonshire,  is  undulating,  with  pleasant 
prospects,  shaded  vales,  far-stretching  corn- 
lands  and  meadow,  interspersed  with  well-to- 
do  farmsteads,  great  houses,  and  far  and  near 
the  inevitable  spire  for  which  the  county  is 
famous.  Brington  lies  to  the  west  of  Althorp 
Park,  through  which  the  best  approach  is 
made  to  it  from  Northampton.  The  road 
winds  through  a  large  expanse  of  even  sward, 
grazed  by  numberless  cattle  and  herds  of 
deer,  and  studded,  especially  along  the  sides 
of  the  road,  by  lordly  trees,  in  the  hot  weather 
making  a  grateful  shade. 


THE   WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  81 

Althorp  House  lies  to  the  right,  presenting 
a  long  frontage  to  the  view,  backed  by  noble 
gardens  and  orchards,  and  containing  within 
its  walls  memories  and  memorials  of  a  long 
line  of  men  and  women  whose  deeds  are  a 
part — and  often  no  mean  part — of  the  history 
of  their  time.  It  is,  however,  no  part  of  our 
theme  to  speak  of  Althorp  save  incidentally, 
and  as  it  concerns  the  Brington  Washingtons. 
Suffice  it  to  say  here  that  the  original  modest 
mansion  built  by  Sir  John  Spencer  (pb.  1522); 
the  great  sheep-farmer,  has  grown  out  of  all 
recognition  by  the  additions  and  alterations 
of  successive  owners.  One  of  the  greatest 
embellishers  of  the  place  was  Robert  Lord 
Spencer  of  Wormleighton,  and,  after  him, 
the  Countess  of  Sunderland,  known  to 
fame  (through  Waller's  christening)  as 
"Sacharissa,"  who,  during  her  widowhood, 
transformed  it  in  many  ways  both  within  and 


82    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

without,  and  made  it  a  place  at  which  unfor- 
tunate Royalists  and  dispossessed  clergy  were 
ever  welcome.  It  was  a  much  later  owner 
who  laid  the  foundation  of  the  splendid  library, 
now  located  and  having  its  special  treasure- 
house  at  Manchester,  for  which  city  it  was 
bought  and  presented  thereto  as  a  memorial 
of  her  husband  by  the  late  Mrs.  Rylands. 

An  alternative  route  from  Northampton  to 
Great  Brington  (for  those  who  prefer  to  drive 
or  walk  in  place  of  going  by  train  to  Althorp 
Park  Station)  is  by  way  of  Duston,  Nobottle, 
and  Little  Brington,  the  last  stretch  being 
along  a  country  lane  whose  note  in  the  early 
summer  is  its  profusion  of  wild  roses  and 
in  the  autumn  its  equal  plenty  of  blackberries, 
both  so  beloved  of  children.  The  position 
occupied  by  Great  Brington  may  be  described 
as  a  low  plateau.  The  church  (dedicated  to 
St.  Mary)  occupies  its  highest  point,  whence 


THE   WASHINGTONS   OF  BRINGTON   83 

the  view  on  a  fair  summer's  day  is  one  which 
any  man  may  be  forgiven  for  becoming 
dithyrambic  over,  as  does  Why te- Melville 
in  his  "  Holmby  House."  That  well-known 
novel  takes  its  name  from  Holdenby  House, 
which  came  through  Elizabeth  Holdenby  to 
the  Hattons,  and  was  sold  by  the  famous 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton  to  James  I.  for  his 
son  Henry.  Whence,  on  account  of  the 
death  of  that  prince,  and  the  fact  of  King 
Charles  having  been  taken  prisoner  there 
by  Cornet  Joyce,*  it  got  the  name  of  being 
unlucky  :  which  it  certainly  was,  in  that  it 
was  all  but  completely  destroyed  after  its 


*  Having  been  sold  to  Parliament  by  the  Scotch  army 
(in  1645)  Charles  was  removed  to  his  own  house  of 
Holmby  ;  whence  he  used  frequently  to  ride  over  to 
Althorp  to  play  bowls  (there  being  no  green  for  the 
game  at  Holmby),  as  he  did,  according  to  tradition, 
on  the  very  day  that  he  was  forcibly  carried  off  by 
the  Army. 


84   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

sale  by  order  of  Parliament  in  1650.  The 
house  (or  what  remains  of  it)  lies  a  little 
north-west  of  Brington,  near  the  verge  of 
the  opposing  range  of  hills. 

"  The  slope  of  ground  which  declines  from 
it  on  all  sides,"  writes  Whyte-Melville,  "offers 
a  succession  of  the  richest  and  most  pastoral 
views  which  this  rich  and  pastoral  country 
can  afford.  Like  the  rolling  prairie  of  the 
Far  West,  valley  after  valley  of  sunny 
meadows,  dotted  with  oak  and  elm  and  other 
noble  trees,  undulates  in  ceaseless  variety 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach ;  but,  unlike  the 
boundless  prairie,  deep  dark  copses  and  thick 
luxuriant  hedgerows,  bright  and  fragrant  with 
wild  flowers  and  astir  with  the  glad  songs  of 
birds,  diversify  the  foreground  and  blend 
the  distance  into  a  mass  of  woodland  beauty 
that  gladdens  alike  the  fastidious  eye  of  the 
artist  and  the  stolid  gaze  of  the  clown.  In 


THE  WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON  85 

June  it  is  a  dream  of  Fairyland  to  wander 
along  that  crested  eminence,  and  turn  from 
the  ruin  of  those  tall  gateways  cutting  their 
segments  of  blue  out  of  the  deep  summer 
sky  or  from  the  flickering  masses  of  the  still 
tender  leaves  upon  the  lofty  oaks,  yellowing 
in  the  floods  of  golden  light  that  stream 
through  the  network  of  tangled  branches, 
every  tree  to  the  up-gazing  eye  a  study 
of  forest  scenery  in  itself,  and  so  to  glance 
earthward  on  the  fair  expanse  of  homely 
beauty  stretching  from  one's  very  feet. 
Down  in  the  nearest  valley,  massed  like 
a  solid  square  of  Titan  warriors,  and  scattered 
like  advanced  champions  from  the  gigantic 
array  profusely  up  the  opposite  slope,  the 
huge  old  oaks  of  Althorp  quiver  in  the 
summer  haze,  backed  by  the  thickly  wooded 
hills  that  melt  in  softened  outlines  into  the 
southern  sky.  The  fresh  light  green  of 


86    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

the  distant  larches  blooming  on  far  Har- 
lestone  Heath,  is  relieved  by  the  dark  belt 
of  firs  that  draws  a  thin  black  line  against 
the  horizon.  A  light  cloud  of  smoke  floats 
above  the  spot  where  lies  fair  Northampton, 
but  the  intervening  trees  and  hedgerows  are 
so  clothed  in  foliage  that  scarce  a  building 
can  be  discerned,  though  the  tall  sharp  spire 
of  Kingsthorpe  pierces  upward  into  the  sky. 
To  the  west  a  confusion  of  wooded  knolls 
and  distant  copses  are  bathed  in  the  vapoury 
haze  of  the  declining  sun,  and  you  rest  your 
dazzled  eyes,  swimming  with  so  much  beauty, 
and  stoop  to  gather  the  wild  flowers  at  your 
feet." 

Such  is  the  beautiful  prospect  seen,  under 
fitting  sun  and  season,  from  the  edge  of 
the  declivity  whereon  Great  Brington  church 
stands.  Hard  by  is  the  picturesque  rectory, 
the  residence  of  Earl  Spencer's  agent, 


THE   WASHINGTONS   OF  BRINGTON  87 

Mr.  A.  L.  Y.  Morley  (the  rector  occupying 
another  house  in  the  parish),  and  opposite 
thereto,  under  the  wide-spreading  arms  of 
a  large  elm,  stands  the  village  cross,  fronting 
the  churchyard  gate.  It  is  approached  by 
three  stone  steps,  octagonal  in  shape,  like 
the  shaft  which  they  support.  On  the  top 
of  the  shaft  is  a  Decorated  capital,  above 
which  rises  a  broken  octagonal  column. 
Hence  for  some  distance  stretches  an  avenue 
of  elms,  shading  the  road  and  forming  a 
picturesque  foreground  to  the  village,  whose 
old  thatch-roofed  cottages,  mingled  with  a 
few  of  more  modern  design  and  outlook, 
present  conditions  the  like  of  which  are 
too  seldom  met  with  in  rural  hamlets. 

The  church  itself  is  an  object  of  great 
interest,  holding  a  place,  if  not  in  the  first 
rank  of  Northamptonshire  churches,  at  least 
taking  a  good  one  in  the  second.  Its  square 


88    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

embattled  west  tower  is  a  landmark,  especially 
on  the  west  and  north,  for  miles  around, 
and,  for  its  fine  proportions  and  sturdy 
build,  is  greatly  admired.  It  is  of  Early 
English  character,  as  are  likewise  the  arcade 
of  the  nave  and  aisles,  together  with  the 
ancient  font,  which  is  of  extremely  curious 
and  even  remarkable  workmanship.  The 
greater  part  of  the  church  is  Decorated  in 
character,  but  the  clerestory;  chancel,  and 
chapel  (north)  are  Perpendicular  in  style, 
to  which  period  also  belong  many  of  the 
windows. 

These  and  other  details  are  so  uniformly 
good  that  a  tradition  exists  to  the  effect 
that  the  architect  of  Henry  VII.'s  chapel 
at  Westminster  had  a  hand  in  the  design. 
Whether  there  be  any  warrant  for  the  idea 
or  not,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely.  Sir  John 
Spencer,  Kt,  who  was  the  first  of  his  name 


THE   WASHINGTONS  OF  BRINGTON   89 

to  own  the  estate,  undoubtedly  did  much 
for  the  edifice,  and  the  late  Perpendicular 
of  the  features  named  would  appear  to 
synchronise  with  the  later  years  of  his  life. 
Perhaps,  however,  the  tradition  referred  to 
may  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  a  bay 
of  five  sides,  each  with  a  large  window,  was 
added  in  1846  by  the  fourth  Earl  Spencer 
as  a  memorial  of  his  father,  mother,  and 
brother,  the  design  of  which  was  taken 
from  the  Westminster  chapel. 

A  somewhat  singular  feature  of  the  in- 
terior are  the  fluted  octagonal  piers  of  the 
nave  arcade  on  the  south.  A  still  more 
noteworthy  feature  of  the  nave  is  the  old 
oaken  benches,  with  their  grotesquely  carved 
finials  representing  poppy-heads,  accompanied 
by  shields  bearing  simple  heraldic  charges.* 
They  date  from  between  1446  and  1457, 
*  See  illustration  facing  p.  78. 


90    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

as  may  be  determined  from  the  shields 
themselves.  The  series,  which  are  curiously 
reminiscent  of  similar  work  at  Wormleighton, 
present  a  very  quaint  feature  of  the  interior 
of  the  church.  Noteworthy,  too,  is  the 
canopy  arch  in  the  exterior  south  wall, 
beneath  which  (long  hidden  by  shrubs 
growing  out  of  the  masonry)  is  the  re- 
cumbent effigy  of  an  unknown  ecclesiastic, 
now  protected  by  an  iron  railing,  erected 
by  the  care  of  Earl  Spencer  in  1903. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    SPENCER    AND    WASHINGTON    MONUMENTS 
AT    BRINGTON 

A  CHAPTER  might  be  written  on  the 
*•  *•  Spencer  memorials.  They  fill  the 
family  chapel  on  the  north  side  of  the  chan- 
cel, as  well  as  the  arches  dividing  the  two. 
The  earliest  (of  date  1522)  is  that  of  Sir 
John  Spencer,  the  first  of  the  Althorp  line,* 

*  The  Spencers  (who  trace  their  descent  from  the 
Despencers  of  the  Battle  Abbey  Roll)  had,  at  the  time 
of  this  Sir  John  Spencer,  been  possessed  for  some 
generations  of  considerable  estates  at  Snitterfield  and 
other  places  in  the  Midland  counties ;  and  to  these, 
about  the  end  of  Henry  VII. 's  reign,  they  added, 
by  purchase  from  the  Catesbys  and  others,  the  manors 
of  Nobottle,  Brington,  Althorp,  etc.,  with  the  intention 
of  establishing  their  principal  seat  there.  The  Sir  John 


92   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

and  Isabel  his  wife  (n£e  Graunt,  of  Snitter- 
field,  Warwickshire),  who  brought  him  con- 
siderable property,  enabling  him  to  purchase 
the  lordship  of  Wormleighton.  Their  effigies 
repose  upon  a  high  altar-tomb,  having  on 
either  side  three  compartments  containing 
shields  within  enriched  quatrefoils.  Over 
the  figures  rises  a  fourteenth-century  arched 
canopy  with  a  quatrefoiled  entablature, 
surmounted  by  a  Tudor-flower  cresting 
and  flanked  by  panelled  and  embattled 
turrets.  The  recumbent  knight  is  in  plate- 
armour,  bareheaded,  having  a  tabard  charged 
with  the  ancient  (discarded)  Spencer  arms, 
and  an  outer  robe  of  scarlet  charged  with 
green.  His  wife,  who  wears  a  reticulated 

of  the  earliest  memorial  was  the  one  who  enclosed  the 
park,  probably  built  or  enlarged  Althorp  House,  and 
enlarged  the  parish  church,  adding  to  it  a  mortuary 
chapel  for  the  use  of  the  family.  He  was  knighted  by 
Henry  VIII. 


MONUMENTS   AT   BRINGTON          93 

head-dress,  is  clad  in  a  white  kirtle  over 
a  scarlet  gown,  and  has  a  rosary  at  her 
girdle  and  three  massive  chains  about  her 
neck.  Across  her  bosom  is  a  rich  heraldic 
mantle.  The  date  of  the  knight's  death 
is  given,  but  not  that  of  his  wife.  The 
entire  memorial  shows  the  greatest  taste 
and  refinement,  and  is  doubly  interesting 
from  the  fact  of  its  being  the  latest  Gothic 
monument  with  effigies  in  Northamptonshire. 
The  sculpture  is  of  the  highest  quality,  and 
the  portraits,  it  is  held,  undoubted. 

Near  the  above,  beneath  the  east  window, 
is  the  low  altar-tomb,  without  effigies,  of 
Sir  William  Spencer  (son  of  Sir  John), 
who  died  in  1532,  and  his  wife  Susan 
(Knightley),  with  nine  shields  of  arms  in 
quatrefoils  within  square  panels. 

Under  the  central  arch  of  the  arcade 
dividing  the  Spencer  chapel  from  the 


94    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

chancel  is  the  tomb  of  the  Sir  John  Spencer 
who  took  to  wife  Catherine,  the  daughter 
of  Sir  Thomas  Kitson,  of  Hengrave  Hall, 
Suffolk,  and  through  her  became  a  kinsman 
of  the  Washingtons.  The  monument,  very 
elaborate  in  detail,  is  of  classic  design,  with 
much  display  of  heraldry,  there  being  no 
fewer  than  thirty  shields  of  arms,  besides 
those  on  the  two  figures.  The  knight  is 
represented  in  a  complete  suit  of  plate- 
armour,  wearing  over  it  a  tabard  charged 
with  the  Spencer  arms  (ancient  as  well  as 
modern).  The  wife  is  shown  with  her 
hair  gathered  beneath  a  hood,  which  covers 
the  head,  and  behind  reaches  below  the 
waist.  There  is  a  pyramidal  pillar  at  each 
angle  of  the  tomb,  and  one  of  the  ancient 
Spencer  crests,  a  moorhen,  at  one  end. 
The  whole  is  characteristically  Elizabethan, 
florid,  and  yet  extremely  artistic. 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON          95 

This  Sir  John  Spencer  was  a  grandson 
of  the  last-named  Sir  John,  and  died  in 
1586.  Like  his  father  and  grandfather 
before  him,  he  owned  immense  flocks  of 
sheep,  but  is  said  to  have  paid  more 
attention  to  agriculture  than  wool-growing. 
He  was  twice  member  of  Parliament  for 
North  Hants,  and  four  times  sheriff.  It 
was  this  Sir  John  who  was  the  life-long 
friend  of  Lawrence  Washington,  of  North- 
ampton and  Sulgrave,  his  kinsman. 

The  third  arch  is  devoted  to  Robert,  first 
Baron  Spencer  of  Wormleighton,  and  his 
wife,  Margaret  Willoughby  of  Wollaton, 
Nottinghamshire,  to  whom  he  was  married 
in  his  seventeenth  year.  He  was  grandson 
of  the  last-named,  and  died  in  1627  (Octo- 
ber 25th).  Lord  Spencer  is  represented  in 
a  complete  suit  of  armour  of  the  period,  and 
his  wife  (pb.  1597)  in  a  large  fluted  hood, 


96    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

wearing  also  an  heraldic  counterpane  charged 
with  the  quarterings  of  eleven  families. 
Over  the  effigies  is  a  semicircular  canopy, 
while  at  the  angles  are  Corinthian  columns 
supporting  an  entablature,  from  which,  on 
either  side,  rise  three  obelisks.  In  this 
case  also  the  portraits  are  reputed  to  be 
good  likenesses.  A  circumstance  worthy 
of  note  in  connection  with  this  monument 
is  the  fact  that  the  iron  buckles  and  leather 
straps  forming  part  of  the  accoutrements  of 
the  Baron's  effigy  are  still  in  working  order. 
It  was  this  scion  of  the  noble  house  who 
occasioned  the  scene  in  the  House  of  Lords 
previously  referred  to,  which  resulted  in 
both  himself  and  the  Earl  of  Arundel  being 
arrested,  and  in  the  end  reparation  being 
ordered  to  Lord  Spencer,  as  having  been 
first  provoked. 

In    1603    tne    Queen    of    James    I.    and 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON          97 

Prince  Henry  visited  Althorp  on  their  way 
from  Holyrood  to  London,  when  a  masque, 
specially  composed  by  Ben  Jonson,  was 
performed  in  their  honour.  A  few  months 
later  Sir  Robert  was  created  a  Baron,  and 
in  the  same  year  was  sent  on  an  embassy 
to  Frederick,  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg,  to  invest 
him  with  the  Order  of  the  Garter.  In 
commemoration  of  his  elevation  to  the 
peerage,  and  perhaps  the  royal  visit,  the 
baron  had  a  hawking-tower  (bearing  the 
royal  and  his  own  arms)  put  up  the  park 
at  Althorp,  which  was  used  in  connection 
with  the  very  popular  sport  of  falconry. 
Since  that  pastime  fell  into  desuetude  it 
has  been  turned  to  account  as  a  residence 
for  keepers.  Many  years  ago  a  series  of 
water-colour  drawings,  showing  hawking 
and  other  scenes,  were  discovered  on  the 
walls,  but  on  exposure  they  quickly  perished. 
7 


98   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Sir  Robert  died  at  Wormleighton  October 
25th,  1627,  leaving  a  will  in  which  he 
expressed  a  desire  to  be  buried  in  the  same 
tomb  as  the  wife  whom  he  had  so  tenderly 
loved  and  who  had  died  thirty  years  before, 
under  circumstances  similar,  it  is  said,  to 
the  present  noble  earl's  sad  bereavement. 
His  long  widowhood  was  the  occasion,  it  is 
said,  of  Ben  Jonson's  well-known  quatrain  : 

Who  since  Thamyra  did  die 
Hath  not  brook'd  a  lady's  eye, 
Nor  allow'd  about  his  place 
Any  of  the  female  race. 

On  the  north  side,  opposite  that  of  the 
first  baron,  is  the  beautiful  monument  to 
William  Lord  Spencer  (pb.  1636)  and 
Penelope  Wriothesley,  his  wife  (pb.  1667), 
eldest  daughter  of  the  third  Earl  of  South- 
ampton. It  consists  of  a  basement  table 
of  black  and  white  marble,  upon  which 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON          99 

rests  the  low  altar-tomb  of  black  marble. 
On  these  lie  the  effigies  in  pure  white. 
Lord  Spencer  is  shown  habited  in  his 
state  robes  and  wearing  the  Order  of  the 
Bath ;  Lady  Penelope  in  a  flowing  gown 
and  enriched  mantle.  Above  them  rises  a 
lofty  canopy  upheld  by  eight  Corinthian 
pillars  of  black  marble  with  white  capitals. 
The  monument,  one  of  the  most  chaste  of 
the  series,  is  the  work  of  Nicholas  Stone. 
It  was  erected  by  the  bereaved  widow  at 
a  cost  of  ^600. 

This  William  Lord  Spencer  (b.  1591, 
d.  1636)  was  a  very  different  person  from 
his  father  Robert.  He  took  little  interest 
in  politics,  and  appears  to  have  kept  him- 
self sedulously  aloof  from  parties,  although, 
in  accordance  with  the  family  tradition,  he 
remained  true  to  the  Royalist  cause,  and 
had  the  honour  of  a  visit  from  Charles  I. 


100    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

and  his  queen  at  Althorp  in  1624  (when 
it  is  said  he  spent  about  ,£1,300  on  one 
banquet,  exclusive  of  game,  poultry,  meat, 
fruit,  flowers,  and  vegetables  provided  by 
the  estate).  His  greatest  pleasures  were 
connected  with  rural  and  country  sports. 
He  was  a  great  patron  of  horse- racing, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  corporation  of 
Northampton  established  the  races  in  that 
town.  Like  his  father,  he  was  a  staunch 
friend  of  the  Washingtons.  Sir  John  (and 
with  him  his  son  Mordaunt)  still  figures 
in  the  household  books  as  a  visitor,  and 
it  is  during  Lord  William's  reign  that 
"  Mistress  Lucy  Washington's "  name  ap- 
pears at  the  head  of  the  list  of  servants. 
She  is  the  lady  housekeeper,  a  position 
often  taken  in  those  days  by  persons  of 
good  family  and  connections. 

On  the  other  side  of  a  five-sided  bay  is 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON        101 

the  monument  of  Sir  John  Spencer  (pb.  1599) 
and  Mary  Catelin,*  his  wife,  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Sir  Robert  Catelin,  Lord  Chief 
Justice  of  England.  It  is  a  stately  structure 
of  Elizabethan  character,  and  consists  of  a 
low  altar-tomb,  enriched  with  shields  and 
bearing  effigies  like  the  rest,  over  which 
is  a  lofty  canopy,  supported  by  square 
pillars  and  having  at  the  outer  angles  a 
Corinthian  column  bearing  a  frieze  and 
entablature.  The  Sir  John  of  this  monu- 
ment is  the  one  who  died  in  1599,  and 
who,  we  learn  from  his  will,  was  nursed 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  connection  with  this 
marriage,  and  as  indicating  a  peculiarity  in  the  domestic 
relations  of  high  families  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  that  in  the  Althorp  household  accounts  of 
1635,  under  the  heading  "Servants  wages  payed  the 
25th  of  March,"  appear  the  following  entries  : 

To  Wingfield  Catelyn  .  .  .  03  .  oo  .  oo 
„  Ralph  Catelyn  *  ' .  .  03  .  oo  .  oo 
,,  Mrs.  Lucy  Washington  .  .  03  .  oo  .  oo 


102   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

in  his  last  illness  by  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of 
Robert  Washington,  of  Little  Brington. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  when  the  coffin 
of  this  Sir  John  Spencer  was  opened  in 
1846  it  was  found  that  his  features  and 
the  disposition  of  his  hair  and  beard  had 
not  been  accurately  represented  in  the 
effigy.  In  the  year  named  it  was  necessary 
to  remove  this  and  the  other  tombs  on 
the  west  side  of  the  chapel  in  order  to 
enlarge  it  by  a  bay  of  five  sides,  and  upon 
this  being  done  it  was  discovered  that  these 
tombs  displayed  no  fewer  than  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  quarterings,  on  which 
account,  as  well  as  from  the  various 
costumes  and  figures  presented  by  them, 
they  rank  very  high  among  the  monuments 
of  the  period. 

These  comprise  all  the  memorials  of 
Spencers  who  were  noted  for  their  friend- 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON        103 

ship  for  and  patronage  of  the  Washington 
family.  Henry,  the  third  baron  (created 
Earl  of  Sunderland  by  Charles  I.  in  1643), 
who  died  fighting  for  the  royal  cause  at 
Newbury  in  the  same  year,  has  no  monu- 
ment at  Brington,  although  his  heart  found 
sepulture  there.  When  the  vault  was  re- 
cently opened  the  leaden  box,  of  circular 
form  (about  24  in.  by  18  in.),  containing 
the  heart-shaped  leaden  casket  in  which 
the  heart  was  sealed  up  was  still  to  be 
seen  there,  but  there  was  no  inscription 
upon  it. 

It  was  of  course  in  the  time  of  the  second 
earl  and  his  countess  (n4e  Ann  Digby)  that 
the  incident  occurred  (previously  referred 
to)  on  the  day  of  the  king's  forcible 
abduction  by  the  army.  He  had  ridden 
over  to  Althorp,  as  was  his  wont,  to  play 
bowls,  and  was  thus  engaged  when  the 


104   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

sudden  appearance  of  Cornet  Joyce  among 
the  spectators  of  the  game  induced  the  com- 
missioners to  hurry  back  their  royal  charge 
to  Holdenby. 

There  are  many  other  Spencer  monu- 
ments and  memorials,  some  of  them  of 
course  modern,  not  a  few  of  them  showing 
splendid  work,  as,  for  instance,  that  of 
Margaret  Georgiana  (Poyntz),  wife  of  John, 
first  Earl  Spencer,  with  sculptured  figures 
of  Faith  and  Charity,  by  Flaxman.  They 
are,  however,  of  less  interest  to  us  here 
than  the  Washington  mementoes.  These 
are  of  exceptional  interest,  being  more 
numerous  than  are  to  be  found  in  any 
other  place  associated  with  the  Washington 
family. 

Sulgrave,  as  we  have  seen,  contains  the 
tomb  of  Lawrence  Washington,  twice  mayor 
of  Northampton,  and  his  wife,  but  there  is 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON        105 


no  trace  there  of  any  memorial  of  his  son 
Robert,  who,  after  the  sale  of  the  estate, 
very  curiously  drops  out  of  the  picture. 


THE  WASHINGTON  ARMS,  IMPALED  WITH  THOSE  OF 
THE  BUTLERS. 


Mr.  Simpkinson  supposes  that  he  went  to 
live  at  Brington  with  his  son,  but  there 
is  no  evidence  to  support  the  assumption. 
His  eldest  son,  Lawrence,  and  Robert,  the 


106   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

second  son,  however,  together  with  their 
wives,  find  suitable  memorials  at  Brington. 
The  tomb  of  the  first-named  is  in  the 
chancel,  on  a  stone  in  the  floor  of  which 
may  still  be  seen  (with  the  permission  of 
the  rector)  the  Washington  arms,  impaled 
with  those  of  the  wife,  and  the  epitaph  : 

Here  lieth  the  bodi  of  Laurence  Washington, 
sonne  and  heire  of  Robert  Washington  of  Soul- 
grave  in  the  countie  of  Northampton,  Esquire, 
who  married  Margaret,  the  eldest  daughter  of 
William  Butler  of  Tees  in  the  countie  of  Sussexe, 
Esquire,  who  had  issue  by  her  8  sonns  and  9 
daughters,  which  Laurence  decessed  the  13  of 
December  A.  Dni.  1616. 

Thou  that  by  chance  or  choyce  of  this  hast  sight, 

Know  life  to  death  resigns  as  day  to  night ; 

But  as  the  sunns  returne  revives  the  day, 

So  Christ  shall  us,  though  turned  to  dust  and  clay. 

This  inscription  is  very  distinct,  as  are 
also  the  deeply  sculptured  arms  above  it. 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON        107 

The  tomb  of  Robert  Washington  and 
his  wife  (who  both  died  in  the  same  year, 
1622)  is  in  the  nave,  and  above  it  a  brass 
recording  : 


1 1  ERE  LIES  INTERRED  Y  BODIES  OF  tLI^ABlViA^HINC^  v\ 


Y  15?  OF  MARCH  fG22-  ASJALSO  v  BODY  OF  ROBERT 

WASHINGTON  GENT*  HERJ-ATE  HVSBAND  SECOND  £ 

SONHE  Of  ROBERT  VV^HiNCTOhT  OF  SOLCRAVE  INTJ 
COVWTYOF  NORTH:  ESO.WHO  DEPTED  THIS  LIFE  \ 
io  OF  MARCH  -fG22  AFTERTHEY  uvEDLoviNGLYTocETrtR 

-      MAW  YBARESIN  THIS    PARISH 


Accompanying  this  inscription  appear  the 
Washington  arms  (as  given  on  next  page), 
with  the  sign  of  cadency  indicative  of  a 
younger  brother.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that 
from  this  Washington  coat  of  arms  some  hold 
that  the  "  Stars  and  Stripes  "  flag  of 
America  was  derived.  Others,  on  the  con- 
trary, consider  the  derivation  erroneous. 

Robert  Washington   is  supposed  to  have 


108   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

carried  on  the  business  of  a  farmer  and 
miller,  as  it  is  known  by  an  entry  in  the 
Althorp  household  books  that  he  rented  a 
windmill  (no  longer  in  existence)  belonging 
to  Lord  Spencer,  situated  about  a  mile 


ARMS  OF   ROBERT  WASHINGTON,   WITH   CRESCENT 
IN  SIGN  OF  CADENCY. 


from  the  village.  The  entry  is  as  follows  : 
"  1610.  Oct.  6.  After  this  week  Robert 
Washington  did  take  the  windmill  of  me " 
(the  memorandum  being  in  Lord  Spencer's 
handwriting). 

No  trace  of  this  mill  remains,  but  those 


MONUMENTS  AT   BRINGTON        109 

best  able  to  judge  fix  its  probable  site  as 
being  a  plot  of  high  ground  marked  in 
the  estate  books  as  "  mill  furlong,"  a  short 
distance  from  Little  Brington. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  two  references  to  his  son 
Gregory,  the  Brington  parish  register  con- 
tains no  reference  to  Lawrence  Washington's 
family  between  that  date  and  his  own  death 
in  1616.  It  was  this  circumstance  which 
led  Mr.  Simpkinson  to  suppose  that  he 
went  to  live  in  London  with  a  view  to  the 
better  education  of  his  children.  Of  his 
numerous  family  (eight  sons  and  nine 
daughters,  according  to  his  epitaph)  most 
of  his  daughters  can  be  traced,  but  only 
three  of  the  sons  (if  we  bar  the  infant 
Gregory  and  the  Thomas  who  died  in 
Spain).  These,  as  our  pedigree  table  shows, 
were  Sir  William  Washington  of  Packington, 


110   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Sir  John  Washington,  of  Thrapston,  North- 
amptonshire, and  the  Rev.  Lawrence 
Washington,  Rector  of  Purleigh,  Essex. 
The  third  son,  Richard,  is  mentioned  in 
the  Althorp  household  books,  but  as  no 
further  trace  of  him  is  discoverable  it  is 
assumed  that  he  died  young. 

Sir  William  and  Sir  John  (whom  Sir  Isaac 
Heard,  Garter  King-at-Arms,  and  others 
after  him,  assumed  to  be  the  emigrant  to 
Virginia,  and  the  great-grandfather  of  the 
first  President)  find  frequent  mention  in 
these  household  books.  As  already  seen  a 
sister  Lucy  is  likewise  mentioned  therein, 
she  having  acted  as  housekeeper  at  Althorp, 
and  her  name  being  down  in  the  accounts 
for  the  salary  she  received. 

Another  sister,  Amy,  was  living  at  Brington 
in  1620  (possibly  with  her  uncle,  Robert 
Washington  and  his  wife),  in  which  year 


MONUMENTS  AT   BRINGTON        111 

she  was  married  to  Philip  Curtis,  a  gentle- 
man respecting  whom  we  have  little  informa- 
tion beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  undoubtedly 
of  a  good  family  and  a  frequent  guest  at 
Althorp. 

Amy  Washington's  brother  John  had 
already  married  into  the  same  family,  but 
was  soon  left  a  widower  with  three  children, 
as  we  learn  from  a  mural  monument  in  the 
tower  of  I  slip  church,  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion : 

Here  lieth  the  body  of  Dame 
Mary :  wife  unto  Sir  John  Wash- 
ington Knight,  daughter  of  Phil- 
lipe  Curtis  Gent :  who  had  is- 
sue by  Hur  sayd  Husbande 
3  sonns  Mordaunt  John  and 
Phillipe  deceased  the  i  of 
Janu  :  1624. 

Another  epitaph  in  the  same  church  is  as 
follows  : 


112   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Here  Heth  the  bodie  of  Katherine 
the  wife  of  Phillipe  Curtis  Gent : 
who  had  issue  one  sonne  Phillipe 

and  fower  daughters, 
departed    in    the    fayth    of    Christ 

Apprill  24.     Anno  Domini  1626. 

I  slip  is  a  village  very  pleasantly  situated 
on  a  hill  about  half  a  mile  from  Thrapston, 
the  one-time  residence  of  Sir  John  Washing- 
ton. The  two  places  are  connected  by  a 
bridge  across  the  Nene.  Islip  church, 
dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas,  is  a  small  but 
beautiful  edifice  of  stone  in  the  Perpendicular 
style,  consisting  of  chancel,  clerestoried  nave, 
aisles,  south  porch,  and  an  embattled  tower 
with  crotcheted  spire  and  pinnacles. 

As  already  stated,  it  was  long  thought 
that  Sir  John  Washington  was  the  emigrant 
to  Virginia,  and  the  great-grandfather  of  the 
first  President ;  and  it  was  only  after  Colonel 


MONUMENTS  AT  BRINGTON        113 

Chester  had  shown  the  impossibility  of  this 
conjecture,  and  Mr.  H.  F.  Waters  had  made 
his  important  researches,  that  attention 
became  fixed  upon  John,  the  eldest  son 
of  Lawrence  Washington,  the  Rector  of 
Purleigh,  as  the  probable  great-grandfather 
of  the  first  President.  It  is  to  this  Rev. 
Lawrence  Washington,  therefore,  that  we 
must  now  devote  a  little  space  and  set  forth 
what  Mr.  Waters  and  others  have  discovered 
respecting  him,  his  interesting  family  and 
its  fortunes. 


CHAPTER    VI 

LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON,    THE    RECTOR   OF 
PURLEIGH 

T    AWRENCE    WASHINGTON,    the 

•* — '  brother  of  Sir  William  Washington 
of  Packington  and  Sir  John  Washington  of 
Thrapstone,  must,  it  is  held,  have  been  born 
about  1602,  as  he  matriculated  at  Brasenose 
College,  Oxford,  November  2nd,  1611,  in 
his  nineteenth  year.  Two  years  later  he 
obtained  his  B.A.  degree,  becoming  M.A. 
in  1626.  He  was  Fellow  of  his  college  from 
1624  to  1633,  Lector  in  1626,  and  Proctor 
in  1631.  He  was  at  Oxford  therefore  some 

twenty-two    years,    and   finally   quitted    the 
114 


REV.    LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON     115 

University  to  take  over  the  rectorship  of 
Purleigh,  in  Essex. 

Purleigh  is  situated  in  the  south-east 
division  of  the  county,  three  miles  south- 
south-west  of  Maldon,  and,  being  on  elevated 
ground,  enjoys  an  extensive  and  varied 
prospect  of  wood  and  mead.  To  the  north 
and  north-east  the  view  includes  Blackwater 
Bay,  seen  over  the  distant  marshes,  while  in 
the  mid-distance  lies  the  town  of  Maldon. 
The  church,  dedicated  to  All  Saints,  is  a 
handsome  structure,  with  nave,  aisles, 
chancel,  and  an  ancient  embattled  tower  of 
flint  and  stone,  having  over  the  west  door 
carved  heads  of  a  man  and  a  woman,  said  to 
represent  the  founders.  The  interior  is  neat 
though  not  striking,  containing  no  monu- 
ments of  any  special  note. 

It  is  assumed  that  Lawrence  Washington 
married  on  accepting  the  rectorship  of 


116   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Purleigh.  His  wife  was  Amphillis,  the 
daughter,  it  is  supposed,  of  one  John 
Roades,  who  was  farm-bailiff  to  Sir  Edmund 
Verney,  of  Middle  Claydon,  Bucks.  It  is 
known  that  Sir  Edmund  was  intimate  with 
one  member  of  the  Washington  family  from 
the  following  circumstance.  There  was  a 
Thomas  Washington  in  the  retinue  of  Prince 
Charles  when  he  and  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham went  on  their  romantic  expedition  to 
Madrid  to  see  the  Infanta  of  Spain,  and 
among  other  gentlemen  in  the  Prince's 
service  was  Sir  Edmund  Verney.  In  one 
of  Howell's  "Familiar  Letters"  (Section  3, 
Letter  xx.)  written  from  Madrid  in  the  year 
1623  (in  which  this  clandestine  visit  took 
place),  the  following  incident  is  related  in 
connection  therewith  : 

"  Mr.  Washington,  the  Prince  his  page,  is 
lately  dead  of  a  calenture :  and  I  was  at  his 


REV.    LA  WHENCE.  WASHINGTON     117 

burial,  under  a  fig-tree  behind  my  lord  of 
Bristoll's  house.  A  little  before  his  death, 
one  Ballard,  an  English  priest,  went  to 
tamper  with  him  ;  and  Sir  Edmund  Varney, 
meeting  him  coming  downstairs  out  of 
Washington's  chamber,  they  fell  from  words 
to  blows :  but  they  were  parted.  The 
business  was  like  to  gather  very  ill  blood, 
and  arise  to  a  great  height,  had  not  Count 
Gondomar  quasht  it ;  which  I  believe  he 
could  not  have  done,  unlesse  the  times  had 
bin  favourable ;  for  such  is  the  reverence 
they  bear  to  the  church  here,  and  so  holy  a 
count  they  have  of  all  ecclesiastics,  that  the 
greatest  Don  in  Spain  will  tremble  to  offer 
the  meanest  of  them  any  outrage  or  affront. " 
The  incident,  which  roused  much  indigna- 
tion in  England  at  the  time,  is  referred  to 
by  Tom  Telltruth  in  his  famous  libel  (see 
Somers's  "Tracts,"  vol.  ii.),  and  is  men- 


118  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

tioned  also  by  David  Lloyd  in  his  sketch 
of  Sir  Edmund  Verney. 

It  is  held  to  be  proved,  almost  beyond 
question,  that  this  Thomas  Washington  was 
one  of  the  sons  of  Lawrence  Washington 
of  Sulgrave  and  Brington,  and  accordingly 
a  younger  brother  of  Sir  William  Washing- 
ton, who  had  married  a  half-sister  of  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  who,  living  at 
Leckhampstead,  was  a  near  neighbour  of 
Sir  Edmund  Verney,  who  had  likewise 
another  neighbour  of  the  same  family  in 
Sir  Lawrence  Washington,  the  Register  of 
Chancery,  whose  residence  was  at  Westbury. 

These  particulars  are  given  to  show  that 
it  was  possible  that  Lawrence  Washington 
of  Brington  and  Brasenose  may  have  been 
a  frequent  visitor  at  Middle  Claydon,  where, 
it  is  supposed,  he  found  his  wife,  and  by 
marrying  her,  possibly  caused  some  dis- 


REV.  LAWRENCE  WASHINGTON     119 

satisfaction  in  the  family — "married  beneath 
him,"  as  they  would  say.  Such,  at  least,  is 
thought  to  have  been  the  case  by  some  of 
those  who  have  investigated  the  circum- 
stances of  his  life,  although  in  truth  there 
is  but  little  ground  for  the  inference.  A 
grievous  misfortune  fell  upon  him  in  his 
later  years,  and  that  seems  to  have  cast 
a  shadow  upon  his  whole  life.  He  was 
appointed  Rector  of  Purleigh  in  March 
1632,  and  held  the  living  until  1643,  when 
he  was  ejected  by  order  of  Parliament  as  a 
malignant  Royalist. 

This  information  is  given  in  "  The  First 
Century  of  Scandalous,  Malignant  Priests 
made  and  admitted  into  Benefices  by  the 
Prelates,"  etc.,  published  by  order  of  Parlia- 
ment in  1643.  Herein  Lawrence  Washing- 
ton is  referred  to  as  "  a  common  frequenter 
of  ale-houses,"  as  one  "dayly  tippling 


120  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

there"  and  "also  encouraging  others  in 
that  beastly  vice";  but  there  is  a  further 
addition  of  statements  he  is  alleged  to  have 
made  about  Parliament  and  its  army  that 
seems  to  indicate  that  his  real  fault  was  his 
fidelity  to  the  royal  cause,  a  fidelity  which 
he  appears  to  have  shared  with  the  entire 
Washington  family. 

It  is  impossible  to  say,  after  so  long  a 
lapse  of  time,  how  much  truth  there  was 
in  the  charge,  if  any.  Clergymen  in  those 
troublous  days  found  it  a  hard  task  indeed 
to  satisfy  all  men.  What  with  Protestants 
on  the  one  hand  and  rigid  Puritans  on 
the  other,  they  had  to  walk  very  warily, 
and  not  always  even  then  could  they  be 
sure  of  escaping  trouble.  In  short,  so  high 
did  religious  as  well  as  political  feeling  run, 
that  over-zealous  partisans  were  ever  ready 
to  pick  holes  where  none  existed  and  to 


REV.   LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON    121 

magnify  tiny  molehills  of  faultiness  into 
grievous  mountains  of  error ;  the  result 
being  that  in  many  instances  worthy  men 
were  deprived  of  their  livings  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  their  sympathies  went  with 
Cavalier  instead  of  Roundhead,  or  perhaps 
vice  versa.  That  there  were  careless  and 
evil  livers  among  the  clergy  appears  to  be 
undoubted.  Both  Fuller  and  Baxter,  as 
well  as  others,  make  statements  to  that 
effect  which  cannot  well  be  impugned. 
The  former,  however,  tells  us  that  those 
who  brought  charges  of  evil  living  against 
the  clergy  were,  in  many  cases,  factious 
people ;  and  Clarendon  speaks  to  much 
the  same  purport. 

As  regards  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Washing- 
ton, John  Walker,  in  his  "  Sufferings  of 
the  Clergy"  (London,  1714),  refers  to  him 
as  being  "a  very  worthy,  pious  man," 


122   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

"moderate  and  sober"  in  his  life  and 
habits ;  but,  according  to  those  who  knew 
him  well,  "  he  was  a  loyal  person."  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  real  fault,  how- 
ever, the  charges  brought  against  him  were 
held  to  be  proved,  and  he  was  ejected 
after  ten  years  of  service  among  his 
parishioners.  His  dismissal  took  place  in 
the  early  part  of  1643,  and  he  appears  to 
have  suffered  a  good  deal  in  consequence 
of  his  deprivation.  Later  he  was  given 
some  slight  solatium,  in  the  shape  of  a 
small  living  "  in  the  same  district."  Walker, 
who  makes  the  statement,  says  the  income 
was  so  poor  that  it  was  difficult  to  find 
incumbents  to  accept  the  post,  but  he 
does  not  give  the  name  of  the  place.  It 
has  been  surmised,  and  not  without  some 
probability,  that  it  may  have  been  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Tring,  Herts,  with  which 


REV.   LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON    123 

place  he  was  subsequently  much  identified. 
After  his  death  tardy  compensation  was 
given  to  his  widow,  and  it  may  be  that 
this  partial  reparation  made  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Plundered  Ministers  (in  1649) 
was  intended  as  an  acknowledgment  that 
an  injustice  had  been  done  to  him  by  his 
deprivation. 

All  that  is  known  of  his  subsequent  life 
amounts  to  but  very  little.  He  appears  to 
have  spent  most  of  the  time  at  or  near 
Tring.  Three  of  his  children  were  born 
there,  and  his  second  son,  Lawrence,  was 
living  there  in  1665  (a  short  time,  that  is, 
before  he  followed  his  elder  brother  to 
Virginia).  The  latter,  John  Washington, 
emigrated  some  time  between  1655,  when 
he  was  made  administrator  of  his  mother's 
property  (she  having  died  in  January, 
1654-5)  a°d  1657,  in  which  year  he  is 


124   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

known  to  have  been  in  Virginia.  His 
brother  Lawrence,  sometimes  said  to  have 
gone  to  America  with  John,  was  married 
at  Luton,  Beds  (twelve  miles  from  Tring), 
in  1660.  The  entry  in  the  parish  register 
runs  :  "  1660,  June  26.  Lawrence  Washing- 
ton, gentleman ;  and  Mary  Jones,  married." 
In  December,  1663,  their  daughter  Mary 
was  baptized  at  the  same  place.  A  remark- 
able thing  about  this  connection  with  Tring 
is  that  it  commenced  before  the  rector's 
ejection  from  Purleigh.  Three  of  his  chil- 
dren (Lawrence,  Elizabeth,  and  William) 
were  baptized  there  prior  to  that  event, 
the  first-named  in  1635,  the  two  latter  in 
1636  and  1641  respectively. 

The  question  arises,  could  Lawrence 
Washington,  of  Brasenose  and  Purleigh, 
have  been  a  pluralist  and  enjoyed  a  living 
at  or  near  Tring  as  well  as  the  rectorship 


REV.  LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON     125 

of  Purleigh  ?  Mr.  Waters  gives  some  facts 
that  would  favour  such  a  theory.  For 
instance,  we  find  him  acting  as  temporary 
surrogate  in  the  Archdeacon's  court  at  Whet- 
hampstead  (January  29th,  1649),  in  a  case 
that  had  to  do  with  a  will.  We  find  also 
that  one  of  the  most  important  men  at  Tring 
at  this  period  (1608-32)  was  Sir  Richard 
Anderson,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Pendley, 
which  is  partly  within  the  parish  of  Tring 
and  partly  within  that  of  Aldbury,  but  with 
its  manor-house  in  the  former  parish.  The 
estate,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  was  purchased 
from  Sir  Francis  Verney,  a  brother  of  Sir 
Edmund,  in  1607. 

Sir  Richard's  wife,  Mary,  was  a  daughter 
of  Robert  Lord  Spencer,*  Baron  of  Worm- 

*  In  the  inscription  on  his  lordship's  tomb  Sir 
Richard  Anderson  is  referred  to  as  "of  Penly  in  ye 
co.  of  Hertford." 


126   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

leighton  and  owner  of  the  manor  of  Althorp  ; 
in  other  words,  the  great  friend  and  patron 
of  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Washington's  father 
and  uncle,  Lawrence  and  Robert  Washington, 
of  Brington.  It  is  more  than  probable, 
therefore,  that  Lawrence  Washington,  of 
Brasenose,  knew  Mary  Spencer  in  his  early 
days  at  Brington  or  Wormleighton,  and 
that  through  her  influence  and  that  of  her 
husband  he  may  have  obtained  some  pre- 
ferment which  would  account  for  his  con- 
nection with  Tring.  Sir  Richard  Anderson 
died  in  August,  1632  ;  his  widow  was  buried 
at  Tring  in  1658.  In  his  will  Sir  Richard 
bequeaths  forty  shillings  to  Lawrence  Wash- 
ington of  Brasenose  (whom  he  designates 
"my  cousin"),  also  to  the  Right  Hon.  the 
Lord  Spencer  and  others  ten  pounds  each. 
We  gather  these  and  many  other  in- 
teresting facts  connected  with  the  Rev. 


REV.  LAWRENCE  WASHINGTON     127 

Lawrence  Washington,  the  father  of  the 
emigrants,  from  the  researches  made  by 
Henry  F.  Waters  in  regard  to  the  Wash- 
ington pedigree,  and  published  in  The  New 
England  Historic  and  Genealogical  Register 
for  October,  1889.  The  first  fact  of  im- 
portance thus  hit  upon  was  the  discovery 
by  Mr.  Waters  of  the  letters  of  adminis- 
tration granted  in  1677  to  one  Edmund 
Jones,*  of  Luton,  on  the  English  property 
of  Lawrence  Washington,  the  younger  of 
the  two  emigrants,  who  had  died  in  Virginia. 
This  interesting  find  was  followed  by  others, 
the  result  whereof  was  to  show  that  John 
and  Lawrence  Washington  were  the  sons 
of  a  Mrs.  Amphillis  Washington,  who  died 
in  1654-5,  and  was  buried  at  Tring.  Here 
Mr.  Waters's  discoveries  ended  ;  he  could 

*  Possibly  a   brother-in-law,    Lawrence's  wife,  as  we 
have  seen,  having  been  a  Jones. 


128   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

get  no  farther,  and  it  still  remained  to  con- 
nect this  Mrs.  Washington,  whose  husband 
was  named  Lawrence,  and  who  was  a 
clergyman  and  a  Master  of  Arts,  with 
the  Lawrence  Washington  of  Brasenose 
and  Purleigh,  whom  we  know  (from  "  The 
Herald's  Visitation"  of  1618)  to  have 
been  the  brother  of  Sir  William  Washington 
and  Sir  John  Washington,  sons  of  Law- 
rence  Washington  of  Sulgrave  and  Brington 
(whom  Heard  and  Baker  had  assumed, 
though  mistakenly,  to  be  one  of  the  two 
emigrants).  Waters  believed  that  he  was 
the  father  of  the  emigrants,  but  his  facts 
broke  off  just  short  of  the  point  of  actual 
proof. 

Thus  the  matter  remained  until  the  acci- 
dental discovery  in  the  State  Department 
at  Washington,  in  1902,  of  the  will  of 
Mrs.  Martha  Hayward,  nte  Washington,  in 


REV.   LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON     129 

which  she  bequeaths  "to  my  eldest  sister, 
Mrs.  Rumbold "  (who  was  living  in  Eng- 
land), "aTunne  of  good  weight  of  Tobacco." 
We  know  from  the  will  of  one  Andrew 
Knowling  (dated  January  i3th,  1649)*  that 
the  emigrants  had  three  sisters,  of  whom 
this  Martha  Hay  ward  was  the  youngest, 
the  others  being  named  Elizabeth  and 
Margaret  respectively,  the  elder  of  the 
two  being,  as  we  have  seen,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Rumball,  or  Rumbold. 

The  chief  clause  in  Knowling's  will  is 
as  follows : 

"I  will  give  and  bequeath  unto  Laurence 
Washington  (my  godsqn)  all  my  freehold 
lands  and  tenements  wheresoever  lying  and 
being  within  the  parish  of  Tring  aforesaid 
or  elsewhere  within  the  realm  of  England, 
to  have  and  to  hold  the  same  to  him  and  his 

*  Given  among  other  documents  by  Mr.  Waters. 
9 


130  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

heirs  for  ever.  Then  I  give  and  bequeath 
to  Amphillis  Washington,  my  daughter-in- 
law  (and  mother  of  the  said  Laurence),  the 
sum  of  threescore  pounds  of  current  money 
of  England,  to  be  paid  her  within  six 
months  of  my  decease." 

In  addition  there  are  bequests  to  Eliza- 
beth Fitzherbert,  another  daughter-in-law, 
and  to  William  Roades,  a  son-in-law  ;  also 
^28  a-piece  to  John  Washington,  William 
Washington,  and  to  Elizabeth,  Margaret, 
and  Martha  Washington,  "  daughters  of  the 
said  Amphillis  Washington,  my  daughter- 
in-law." 

From  these  dispositions  it  is  inferred 
that  Andrew  Knowling  had  married  the 
widowed  mother  of  William  Roades, 
Amphillis  Washington,  and  Elizabeth 
Fitzherbert. 

We    know     from     Baker     ("  History    of 


REV.   LAWRENCE  WASHINGTON    131 

Northamptonshire")  that  the  Rector  of  Pur- 
leigh's  eldest  sister,  Elizabeth,  was  married 
to  a  Mr.  Francis  Mewce,  who  is  supposed 
to  have  held  some  office  in  the  King's 
household  at  Holdenby,  and  that  in  her 
will  (given  by  Mr.  Waters)  occurs  the 
item : 

"  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Rumball,  my  niece,  five  pounds." 

Thus  we  have  the  sister  of  the  Rev. 
Lawrence  Washington,  of  Brasenose  and 
Purleigh,  referring  to  a  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Lawrence  Washington,  the  father  of  John 
and  Lawrence  Washington,  who  emigrated 
to  Virginia,  as  "  my  niece."  Nothing  could 
well  be  more  conclusive  as  showing  that 
though  Lawrence  Washington,  of  Brington 
and  Purleigh,  who  figures  in  the  "  Herald's 
Visitation"  of  1618-19,  was  not  one  of  the 
emigrants  of  1657  and  1666,  as  held  by 


132   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Heard  and  Baker,  he  was  their  father,  and 
that,  therefore,  George  Washington,  the  first 
President  of  the  United  States,  was  a  lineal 
descendant  of  the  Washingtons  of  Sulgrave 
and  of  their  forebears  of  Warton  in  Lanca- 
shire. 

We  do  not  know  when  the  Rev.  Lawrence 
Washington  died,  or  where  he  was  buried. 
He  was  alive  when  the  will  of  Andrew 
Knowling  was  made,  but  predeceased  his 
wife,  who  passed  away  in  January,  1654-5. 
Her  eldest  son,  John,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  born  prior  to  1634,  as  he  must  have 
been  of  age  when  probate  was  issued  to 
him  to  administer  his  mother's  estate  in 
February,  1655.  He  would,  therefore,  be 
about  twenty-four  years  of  age  when  (in 
1657)  he  went  to  Virginia.  His  brother 
Lawrence,  born  in  1635,  was  a  year  or  two 
his  junior,  and  died  in  Virginia  in  1677. 


REV.   LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON     133 

The  Washington    pedigree,   therefore,  com- 
pleted from  page  23,  is  as  follows  : 


Lawrence  Washington  of  Sulgrave  =p  Margaret,  d.  of  William 
and  Brington  (pb.  1616).  Butler,  of  Tees,  Sussex. 


I  I 

Sir  Wm.  Wash-    Sir  John  Wash-     Rev.  Lawrence  =p  Amphillis,  d. 


ington.  ington.  Washington, 

Rector  of 
Purleigh. 


of —  Roades. 


John  Wasrr'ngton,  =p  Ann,  d.  of  Nathaniel     Lawrence  Washington, 
b.  at  Tring  (circa  Pope  (emig.  Virginia  about 


1634),  emig.  Vir- 
ginia about  1657. 


(second  wife).  1666). 


Lawrence  Washington  =p  Mildred  Warner. 
(ob.  1697). 

Augustine  Washington. 
George  Washington. 


It  is  worthy  of  note  that  when  these 
scions  of  the  Washington  family  "  pulled 
up  stakes"  in  England,  resolved  to  try 
their  luck  in  the  new  land  beyond  the  sea, 
it  had  become  common,  if  not  fashionable, 
for  younger  and  poorer  members  of  noble 
and  aristocratic  families,  seeing  things  so 


134   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

much  against  them  here,  to  cast  in  their 
lot  with  the  pioneers  of  "the  Wilderness." 
Many  friends  of  the  young  Washingtons 
had  already  gone  thither  (including  Tom 
Verney,  a  son  of  Sir  Edmund)  and  others 
were  going.  Then  they  had  a  powerful 
friend  in  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  (son  of  Dr. 
Edwin  Sandys,  Archbishop  of  York),  who 
was  treasurer  of  the  Virginia  Company,  and 
with  whose  family  there  was  a  Washington 
connection,  Alice  Washington,  an  aunt  of 
the  emigrants  having  been  married  to  Robert 
Sandys,  of  London,  eldest  son  of  Thomas 
Sandys,  a  brother  of  Sir  Edwin's.  Later 
the  widow  of  their  cousin,  Colonel  Henry 
Washington,  also  became  wife  to  a  Sandys, 
she  having  espoused  Samuel,  another  nephew 
of  the  treasurer. 

Most  of  those  who  elected  to  go  out  to 
Virginia  did  so  for   the   sake   of  rinding  a 


REV.   LAWRENCE   WASHINGTON     135 

home  and  a  career,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  the  Washingtons  had  any  other 
motive  for  going  (unless,  indeed,  the  recol- 
lection of  the  treatment  their  father  had 
received  either  at  the  hands  of  the  Puritans 
for  his  loyalty  to  the  king,  or  from  his 
family  and  family  connections  because  of 
his  marriage,  rankled  in  their  bosoms).  Not 
a  few,  however,  had  chosen  exile  (and  others 
continued  to  do  so)  in  the  hope  of  enjoy- 
ing greater  freedom  of  worship  in  the  new 
land.  Among  these  must  be  reckoned  the 
first  Earl  of  Baltimore,  the  founder  of 
Maryland ;  who,  although  he  did  not  live 
to  carry  out  the  project  in  person,  left  it 
in  such  a  state  of  forwardness  that  his  sons, 
of  whose  work  something  is  said  later  on, 
had  only  to  realise  his  plans.  Thus  did 
some  of  the  best  blood  of  the  old  country 
go  to  the  making  of  the  new. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    HOME    OF    THE    FRANKLINS 

TV  7  EXT  to  George  Washington  himself, 
*•  ^  no  man  perhaps  stands  higher  in 
the  esteem  of  his  countrymen  for  the  services 
he  rendered  in  connection  with  the  founding 
of  the  American  Republic  than  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who  from  the  position  of  a  humble 
journeyman  printer  rose  by  his  ability  and 
achievements  to  be  a  fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  to  win  the  highest  academical  dis- 
tinctions of  the  Universities  of  Oxford, 
Edinburgh,  and  St.  Andrews,  and  to  hold 
high  and  important  office  in  connection  with 
the  newly  formed  State,  for  which  his 

wisdom    had  done   so   much    in    helping   to 
136 


THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS    137 

pilot  it  through  troubled  and  dangerous 
waters  into  the  haven  of  safety.  As  already 
stated,  Franklin,  like  Washington,  was  de- 
scended from  a  Northamptonshire  family ; 
but,  unlike  the  Washingtons,  the  Franklins 
had  been  long  established  in  the  county 
when  an  offshoot,  detaching  himself  from 
the  parent  stock,  went  over  and  took  root 
in  the  American  continent. 

In  the  case  of  Benjamin  Franklin  there 
is  no  doubt  either  as  to  his  ancestry  or  his 
descent.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ecton, 
and  was  already  a  married  man  with  children 
when  he  emigrated  to  America  about  1685. 
The  Franklins  had  been  established  at  Ecton 
three  hundred  years,  and  probably  much 
longer.  They  were  of  that  sturdy  class 
known  as  yeomen,  and  enjoyed  a  patrimony 
of  thirty  acres.  Besides  the  cultivation  of 
this  freehold  a  blacksmith's  business  was 


138   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

carried  on,  whereby  the  family  resources  were 
considerably  augmented.  The  eldest  son 
was  always  brought  up  to  this  trade,  which 
was  then,  of  course,  a  much  more  important 
one  in  every  village  than  it  is  to-day. 

The  first  of  the  family  concerning  whom 
we  have  any  record  was  one  Henry 
Franklin,  whose  son  Thomas  was  baptized 
at  Ecton  Church  on  October  8th,  1598.  Of 
this  Thomas  Franklin  little  is  known,  except 
that  he  was  a  man  of  some  weight  in  the 
village  counsels,  and  that  he  must  have 
been  a  person  of  considerable  parts.  He 
was  acting  as  churchwarden  in  1653,  when 
a  collection  was  made  in  the  village  for 
the  relief  of  the  townsfolk  of  Marlborough, 
Wilts,  who  appear  to  have  been  in  great 
distress,  from  some  cause  not  ascertained, 
and  he  signed  the  register  in  confirmation 
of  the  fact  on  September  6th  of  that  year. 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    139 

According  to  his  son  Josiah  "he  was  im- 
prisoned for  a  year  and  a  day  on  suspicion 
of  being  the  author  of  some  poetry  that 
touched  the  character  of  some  great  man." 
This  appears  to  point  to  a  literary  gift  which 
ran  in  the  family,  and  cropped  out  again 
to  some  purpose  in  his  grandson  Benjamin. 
This  rural  Thomas  the  Rhymer  had  four 
sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  named  Thomas 
after  his  father,  was  baptized  at  Ecton  in 
1637,  and  died  there  on  January  6th,  1702-3. 
The  second  son,  John,  became  a  wool-dyer, 
and  settled  in  Banbury,  while  Benjamin, 
the.  third,  after  whom  his  great  nephew 
was  named,  went  to  America  and  died  there 
at  an  advanced  age.  Of  the  fourth  and 
youngest  son,  Josiah,  it  has  already  been 
said  that  he  was  the  father .  of  the  states- 
man and  philosopher.  He  served  an 
apprenticeship  to  his  brother  John,  and  in 


140   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

middle  life,  when  married  and  dowered  with 
three  children,  he  emigrated  to  America. 

Of  these  four  brothers,  Thomas  cuts  the 
most  considerable  figure.  Although  brought 
up  to  his  father's  trade,  learned  in  the 
blacksmith's  art,  and,  according  to  some,  in 
bell-founding  (an  art  which  it  is  thought, 
though  without  much  warrant,  that  the 
Franklins  practised),  he  did  not  confine 
himself  to  these  crafts,  but,  taking  to  book- 
learning,  and  being  encouraged  thereto, 
equally  with  his  brothers,  by  an  "  Esquire 
Palmer,"  the  "principal  inhabitant"  of  the 
parish,  he  qualified  as  a  scrivener  and 
attained  to  more  than  local  repute  in  the 
county.  He  became  clerk  to  the  Com- 
missioners of  Taxes,  *  and  it  was  probably 

*  In  a  letter  written  from  London  after  his  visit  to 
Ecton  in  1758,  Franklin  says  of  this  uncle,  "He  was  a 
conveyancer,  something  of  a  lawyer,  clerk  of  the  county 
courts,  and  clerk  to  the  Archdeacon  in  his  visitations." 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    141 

in  this,  or  some  similar  public  capacity, 
that  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Lord 
Halifax,  who  was  thenceforth  his  friend  and 
patron.  This  uncle  of  Franklin's  was  a 
man  of  such  undoubted  intelligence,  and 
the  recital  which  some  elderly  persons  made 
to  the  statesman  and  his  son  of  his 
character  when  they  visited  the  village  was 
so  extraordinary  from  its  similarity  to  what 
the  latter  knew  of  his  father,  as  to  cause 
him  to  remark  that  if  his  great-uncle  had 
died  four  years  later  on  the  same  day 
(which  was  the  date  of  Benjamin  Franklin's 
birth)  they  might  have  imagined  that  a 
transmigration  had  taken  place. 

Among  other  anecdotes  related  to  them 
respecting  this  last  of  Franklin's  ancestors 
who  lived  at  Ectofi  was  the  following  :  He 
set  on  foot  a  subscription  for  erecting 
chimes  in  the  steeple  of  the  parish  church, 


142   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

and  effected  his  purpose.  "  And  we  heard 
them  play,"  Franklin  comments  (in  a  letter 
dated  London,  September  6th,  1758). 
They  may  still  be  heard,  playing  the  same 
old  airs,  "  Britons,  strike  Home,"  and  a 
hymn  tune.  Is  this  putting  up  of  the 
chimes  the  ground,  one  wonders,  on  which 
is  based  the  supposition  that  the  Franklins 
were  bell-founders  as  well  as  smiths  ? 
More  striking,  and  quite  in  the  style  of 
his  famous  nephew,  was  the  good  man's 
discovery  of  a  method  whereby  their  village 
meadows  could  be  saved  from  drowning, 
as  they  not  infrequently  were  by  the  over- 
flowing of  the  river  Nene.  Franklin  does 
not  explain  what  the  method  was,  though 
he  tells  us  that  when  he  was  there  it 
was  "  still  in  being."  When  first  pro- 
posed "  no  one  could  conceive  how  it 
could  be  done,"  but  they  said,  "If  Franklin 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    143 

says  he  knows  how  to  do  it,  it  will  be 
done." 

These  and  other  instances  of  the  old 
yeoman's  grip  and  character  were  related 
to  Franklin  and  his  son  by  the  wife  of 
the  rector  (the  Rev.  Eyre  Whalley),*  who 
was  a  granddaughter  of  the  famous  Arch- 
deacon Palmer  (whose  father,  Thomas 
Palmer,  bought  the  rectory  in  1712  from 
the  Catesbys),  and  remembered  a  great 
deal  about  the  family  and  its  doings  and 
dealings. 

Thomas  Franklin's  gravestone  is  still  to 
be  seen,  and,  thanks  to  the  care  of  the 
present  rector,  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Cox- Edwards, 
its  inscription  read  in  Ecton  churchyard. 
The  inscription  is  as  follows  : 

*  Whalleys  appear  to  have  held  the  rectorship  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Thomas  Palmer 
succeeding  Bradley  Whalley  (installed  1715)  in  1720,  and 
then  four  Whalleys  following  each  other  from  1732  on. 


144  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Thomas  Franklin,  who 
departed  this  life  January  6th,  Anno  Dni.  1702 
in  the  sixty-fifth  yeare  of  his  age. 

His  widow  survived  him  some  nine  years, 
dying  in  1711.  The  stone  at  the  head  of 
her  grave,  which  is  near  his,  bears  the 
inscription  : 

Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Eleanor  Franklin,  the 
wife  of  Thomas  Franklin,  who  departed  this  life 
the  I4th  of  March,  1711,  in  the  77th  yeare  of  her 
age. 

| 

It  is  characteristic  of  these  Franklins  that 
they  were  strong  Protestants,  and  during 
Mary's  reign  ran  some  danger  of  persecution 
on  account  of  their  hostility  to  the  ancient 
faith.*  Howbeit  they  appear  to  have 

*  Benjamin  Franklin  tells  in  his  "Autobiography  "  how 
he  learned  from  his  uncle  that,  in  the  perilous  days  of 
Mary,  the  family  concealed  their  English  Bible  by 
means  of  tapes  under  and  within  the  cover  of  a  joint- 
stool.  When  his  great-grandfather  wished  to  read  it  to 


THE   HOME  OF  THE  FRANKLINS    145 

steered  clear  of  ecclesiastical  molestation 
until  the  house  of  Protestantism  became 
divided  against  itself,  when,  some  of  the 
ministers  ejected  for  their  nonconformity 
holding  meetings  in  the  neighbourhood, 
Benjamin  and  Josiah  Franklin  became  in- 
oculated with  the  views  they  taught  and 
remained  true  to  them  all  their  lives.  It 
appears,  however,  to  have  been  owing  to 
their  dissent  that  the  two  brothers  in  the  end 
found  their  way  to  America.  Such  was 
certainly  the  case  as  regards  the  younger. 
"  The  conventicles  being  at  that  time  for- 
bidden by  law,"  says  his  son,  "and  frequently 
disturbed  in  the  meetings,  some  considerable 

his  family,  he  placed  the  joint-stool  on  his  knees,  and 
then  turned  over  the  leaves  under  the  tapes.  One  of 
the  children  stood  at  the  door  to  give  notice  if  he  saw 
the  apparitor,  an  officer  of  the  spiritual  court,  coming 
that  way ;  in  which  case  the  stool  was  turned  down 
upon  its  feet  and  the  Bible  concealed  as  before. 
10 


146   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

men  of  his  acquaintance  determined  to  go 
to  that  country,  and  he  was  prevailed  with  to 
accompany  them  thither,  where  they  expected 
to  enjoy  the  exercise  of  their  religion  with 
freedom."  Thus  for  ever  and  again  we 
find  a  live  people  kicking  against  the  pricks 
of  sacerdotalism  and  justifying  the  wisdom 
of  ceaseless  question  and  doubt. 

Respecting  his  father  (born  at  Ecton  in 
1698)  Benjamin  Franklin  tells  us  that  he  was 
a  man  of  sound  sense  and  independent 
character,  strong  in  his  views  on  political 
and  religious  matters,  and  though  precluded 
by  his  large  family  and  straitened  circum- 
stances from  taking  part  in  public  affairs,  he 
was  frequently  consulted  by  leading  citizens 
as  to  his  opinion  on  matters  of  public 
interest,  and  those  of  the  church  to  which 
he  belonged.  As  to  his  private  character, 
we  learn  that  he  was  careful  in  regard  to  the 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    147 

bringing  up  of  his  children  (of  whom  he 
reared  thirteen  out  of  seventeen),  and  would 
have,  as  often  as  he  could,  some  sensible 
friend  or  neighbour  to  converse  with,  so 
that,  starting  some  ingenious  or  useful  topic 
of  conversation,  their  discourse  might  tend 
to  improve  the  minds  of  his  children.  We 
learn  further  that  he  was  something  of  a 
draughtsman,  had  a  little  skill  in  music,  and 
used  very  agreeably  to  lighten  the  evening 
hours,  after  work  was  done,  by  singing  very 
pleasantly  to  his  own  accompaniment  on  the 
violin.  His  first  wife  was  a  Jane  White,  of 
Banbury,  his  second  a  daughter  of  Peter 
Folger,  who,  born  at  Norwich,  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  Waterton,  Mass.,  a  man 
of  exceptional  parts  and  character,  with  some 
literary  gifts,  from  whom  Franklin  may  have 
inherited  some  of  his  remarkable  endow- 
ments, as  he  is  said  to  have  done  facial 


148   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

characteristics,  or  if  not  from   him,  at   least 
from  the  Folger  family. 

The  brother  who,  like  Josiah,  changed 
from  "  Northamptonian  earth"  to  the  broader 
lands  of  New  England,  was  equally  gifted  in 
his  way.  His  famous  nephew  considered 
him  too  much  of  a  politician  for  his  station — 
a  silk  dyer — and  possibly  thought  the  weak- 
ness had  militated  against  his  success  in  life. 
He  was  an  ingenious  man,  a  great  reader, 
and,  like  his  father,  addicted  to  poetry. 
One  gathers  that  he  had  not  a  little  influence 
upon  his  godson,  whom  he  taught  a  system 
of  shorthand  that  he  had  invented,  and 
possibly  turned  his  attention  to  literary 
matters.  Of  the  second  brother,  John,  who 
settled  at  Banbury,  in  Oxfordshire,  less  is 
known  than  of  the  others,  though  he  appears 
to  have  been  a  man  of  intelligence  and  of 
an  estimable  character.  Benjamin  Franklin 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    149 

records  having  seen  his  gravestone  at 
Banbury  in  1758.  With  him  his  father  went 
to  reside  in  his  declining  years,  leaving  the 
Ecton  house,  with  the  land,  to  his  son 
Thomas,  who  in  his  turn  bequeathed  the 
estate  to  his  only  daughter,  who,  together 
with  her  husband,  a  Mr.  Richard  Fisher, 
a  grazier  and  tanner,  of  Wellingborough, 
sold  it  to  Mr.  Isted,  the  lord  of  the  manor.* 
According  to  his  brother  Josiah  he  died 
worth  fifteen  hundred  pounds. 

The  will  of  this  Thomas  Franklin,  a  most 
interesting  document,  is  as  follows  : 

I,  Thomas  Franklin  of  Ecton  in  the  County  of 
Northton  Yeomn  doe  make  this  my  last  will  and 
testamt  in  maner  following  that  is  to  say  Ffirst  I 
give  to  Eleanor  my  wife  in  lieu  of  her  third  and  to 

*  Benjamin  Franklin  found  this  Mr.  Fisher  and  his 
wife  still  living  and  in  very  comfortable  circumstances  at 
Wellingborough  when  he  visited  the  county  in  1758. 
They  had  had  only  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  died 
unmarried  about  the  age  of  thirty. 


150   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

my  only  Daughter  Mary  my  messuage  and  all  my 
lands  in  Ecton  aforesd  with  their  appurtenances 
viz1: — two  yard  lands  in  Badger's  Hide  ffive  leyes 
&  a  halfe  at  Cockins  hedge.  Two  leyes  at  Mill 
Dike  and  one  acre  in  the  east  Rye  field  w~  was 
purchased  of  one  Wm.  Glen  for  &  during  their 
lives,  and  after  my  said  wife's  death  to  my  said 
daughter  &  her  heires  forsed  Also  I  doe  declare 
that  about  Two  hundred  pounds  by  me  put  out  of 
my  said  Daughters  money  upon  securities  taken  in 
her  owne  name  is  her  only  proper  money  &  part 
of  my  Estate  and  therefore  need  not  be  put  into 
the  Inventory  of  my  Goods  Also  I  doe  hereby  make 
my  said  wife  and  daughter  joynt  Executrixes  of 
this  my  Testam1  to  whom  I  give  all  the  rest  & 
residue  of  my  p'sonall  estate  betweene  them  equally 
to  be  divided  after  my  debts  paid  witnesse  my  hand 
&  scale  the  15  day  of  September  Anno  Dm  1697 
Thomas  Franklin  senr 

Hen  Bagley 

Thomas  Franklin  jun 

Edm:  James 

Prob:    17   April   1703,  by  Eleanor  Franklin  & 
Maria  Franklin 


THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS    151 

The  Thomas  Franklin  who,  with  Henry 
Bagley  and  Edmund  James,  witnesses  the 
above  will,  is  evidently  a  member  of  a 
collateral  family  of  the  same  name  then 
living  at  Ecton,  and  is  probably  the  same 
Thomas  Franklin  who  in  the  will  given 
below  is  appointed  overseer  (i.e.  trustee)  by 
the  testator,  Nicholas  Franklin. 

In  the  name  of  God  Amen  this  twelfth  day 
of  August  Anno  Dni  1674  And  in  the  six  and 
tvventyeth  yeare  of  the  Reigne  of  or  Soveraigne 
Lord  Charles  the  Second  by  the  grace  of  God 
King  of  England  &  Scotland  Ffrance  &  Ireland 
defend1"  of  the  faith  I  Nicholas  Ffranklin  of 
Ecton  in  the  County  of  North'ton  Yeoman 
being  sick  in  body  but  of  complete  under- 
standing and  memory  doo  make  this  my  last 
will  and  testam1  in  mafier  following  ffirst  I 
comitt  my  soule  into  the  hands  of  Almighty 
God  my  maker  and  redeemer  and  my  body  I 
comitt  to  the  Earth  to  be  buryed  in  decent  and 
christianlike  matter  at  the  discression  of  my 


152   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

executrix  hereafter  named,  Alsoe  I  give  unto 
my  Cozen  Robert  Wiseman  of  Buckingham  the 
sume  of  twenty  pounds  twelve  monthes  after 
my  decease  Also  I  give  to  Humphry  Pratt  of 
Ecton  my  best  suite  of  Cloathes  And  my  next 
Suite  I  give  to  Robert  Allen  of  Moulton  And 
to  Thomas  Martin  of  Ecton  my  old  Coate 
Alsoe  I  give  unto  my  godson  Thomas  son  of 
the  said  Humphry  Pratt  ffive  shillings  To  my 
godson  Nicholas  Allen  ffive  shillings  And  to 
the  rest  of  my  godchildren  hereafter  named 
viz*  Richard  Malerd  of  Ecton  Anne  now  wife 
of  David  Palmer  of  Earles  Barton  Elizabeth 
daughter  of  John  Hensman  of  Ecton  and  William 
sonne  of  William  Barker  of  Ecton  I  give  twelve 
pence  apeece  Twelve  monthes  after  my  decease. 
Alsoe  I  give  to  Anne  Brice  of  Pasham  Twenty 
shillings  twelve  monthes  after  my  decease  Also 
after  the  decease  of  my  wife  I  give  my  cup- 
board in  the  Hall  to  Elizabeth  daughter  of 
George  Bett  of  Ecton  Also  I  give  to  the  nine 
children  of  George  Bett  of  Ecton  aforesaid  Tenne 
shillings  apeece  at  their  respective  ataynm1  of 
the  age  of  one  and  twenty  yeares  Also  I  give 


THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS    153 

to  the  poore  of  Ecton  Tenne  shillings  to  be 
paid  twelve  monthes  after  my  decease  Also  I 
give  to  the  foure  children  of  Pearcy  Eaglestone 
of  Lamport  Two  shillings  and  sixpence  apeece 
when  they  shall  come  to  their  respective  age  of 
one  and  twenty  yeares  Also  I  doe  desire  John 
Morris  late  of  Billing  and  Thomas  Ffranklin 
the  youngr  of  Ecton  aforesaid  that  they  will  be 
overseeres  of  the  performance  of  this  my  last 
will  and  testam*  To  whom  I  give  twenty  shillings 
apeece  yet  my  mind  and  will  is  that  if  more 
debts  shall  be  charged  upon  my  executors  than 
I  now  thinke  of  or  by  casualty  mistake  or 
otherwise  howsever  my  money  goods  &  chattells 
(household  goods  excepted)  shall  fall  short  of 
raising  money  to  pay  my  debts  legacyes  and 
funerall  expenses  that  then  so  much  as  they 
shall  fall  short  shall  be  deducted  and  abated 
out  of  the  legacyes  aforesaid  and  I  doe  hereby 
make  my  wife  sole  executrix  of  this  my  last 
will  &  Testamts  And  if  any  doubt  question  of 
controversy  shall  happen  to  arise  between  my 
Executrix  legateyes  or  any  of  them  touching 
my  Intent  in  any  clause  or  sentence  herein 


154   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

conteyned  It  shall  be  judged  and  finally  deter- 
mined by  my  said  overseeres  or  such  umpire  as 
they  or  the  survivor  of  them  shall  choose  In 
witness  whereof  I  the  said  Nicholas  Ffranklin 
have  hereunto  put  my  hand  &  seal  the  day  and 
yeare  first  above  written 

Nicholas  Ffranklin 

His  X  marke 
Jonathan  Langdall 
Richard  Hensman 

His  X  mark 
Above  Proved  22  Aug.  1674. 

When  Benjamin  Franklin  visited  Ecton 
some  eighty  years  later  there  appears  to 
have  been  no  one  of  the  name  left  in  the 
village.  After  hundreds  of  years  of  residence 
the  last  scion  of  the  race  had  disappeared. 
Thus,  one  may  remark,  passed  away  from 
its  ancestral  home  one  of  those  families  that 
have  ever  been  among  the  best  assets  of 
English  life,  giving  quality,  character,  and 


THE   HOME   OF  THE  FRANKLINS    155 

genius  to  the  country,  and  sending  out 
into  the  world  strong  and  farseeing  men 
who  have  done  such  yeoman  service  in 
building  up  the  nation  and  the  nations 
that  have  grown  from  the  English  stem. 
It  produced  a  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  so 
justified  its  generations  of  high  purpose 
strenuous  thought,  and  wholesome  labour 
and  living.  To-day  the  reflected  light  from 
his  personality  and  achievement  illumines 
the  little  village  where  his  forefathers  lived 
and  toiled  for  so  many  generations,  possibly 
even  from  Saxon  times,  when  the  name 
they  bore  stood  for  a  class  of  freeholders 
above  the  free  tenants  (Libere  tenentes],  but 
below  the  Miles  and  Armiger  in  social 
position.  In  short,  the  "  Frankelein "  (as 
we  have  it  in  Chaucer)  was  distinguished 
from  other  freeholders  by  the  extent  of  his 
possessions. 


156   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Franklin  was  proud  of  his  ancestry, 
proud  to  have  descended  from  so  respect- 
able and  worthy  a  stock,  and  it  is  in  truth 
no  small  test  of  a  family's  strength  and 
virility  to  have  been  able  to  maintain  its 
grip  on  the  one  home  and  holding  for 
hundreds  of  years,  and  come  out  on  top 
at  last.  He  took  great  pains  when  in 
England  to  find  out  all  he  could  about 
his  forebears  and  their  home  at  Ecton. 

Ecton  is  a  quiet  little  village  some  four 
or  five  miles  to  the  north-east  of  North- 
ampton, on  the  high  ground  overlooking 
the  valley  of  trje  Nene,  with  any  number 
of  interesting  places  round  about,  including 
Weston-Favel,  remembered  by  some  as 
the  one-time  home  of  Hervey,  the  author 
of  "  Meditations  among  the  Tombs  "  ;  Earls 
Barton,  with  its  fine  old  church,  notable 
as  showing  vestiges  of  Anglo-Saxon  work  ; 


THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS    157 

Castle  Ashby,  one  of  the  beautiful  homes  of 
the  Earls  of  Northampton  ;  Yardley  Chase, 
with  its  rare  sylvan  beauties;  Easton  Maudit, 
so  long  the  residence  of  Percy,  of  the 
"  Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry," 
before  he  became  Bishop  of  Dromore, 
etc.,  etc. 

It  is  permissible  to  note  in  this  connection 
that  Percy  was  presented  to  the  collegiate 
living  of  Easton  in  1753,  and  that  three 
years  later  the  rectorship  of  Wilby,  a  few 
miles  away,  fell  into  his  lap — both  which 
incumbencies  he  resigned  in  1782  on  being 
raised  to  the  episcopal  bench.  One  of  his 
daughters  was  married  to  Ambrose  Isted, 
lord  of  the  manor  of  Ecton,  and  purchaser 
of  the  Franklin  freehold. 

Although  so  intimately  associated  with 
the  Franklins,  Ecton  has  to-day  no  house 
clearly  definable  as  their  dwelling-place. 


158   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

When  Benjamin  Franklin  visited  the  place 
in  1758  the  house  was  still  standing,  "a 
decayed  old  stone  building,"  even  then 
known  as  the  "  Franklin  House,"  and  occu- 
pied by  a  person  who  kept  a  school.  We 
are  not  told,  however,  where  it  stood. 
Cole,  in  his  (<  History  and  Antiquities  of 
Ecton"  (written  in  1825),  says  it  was  situated 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  village,  but  had 
long  ago  been  demolished.  A  tradition  of. 
the  place  says  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
There  is,  or  was,  in  a  garden  adjoining 
the  rectory  a  well  known  as  Franklin's  Well, 
and  it  is  thought  that  the  smithy  may 
possibly  have  stood  at  this  spot,  being,  as 
it  is,  situated  near  the  main  street  of  the 
village. 

Some  have  pointed  to  the  manor  farm 
as  having  probably  been  the  habitation  of 
the  Franklins  ;  but  the  tradition,  if  tradition 


THE   HOME   OF  THE   FRANKLINS    159 

it  may  be  called,  though  interesting,  is  very 
doubtful.  It  is,  however,  barely  possible 
that  the  manor-house  became  the  home  of 
the  last  of  the  race  to  reside  at  Ecton. 
Thomas,  the  scrivener,  conveyancer,  or  what- 
not, with  his  many  public  employs,  could 
hardly  have  continued  to  work  as  a  black- 
smith while  holding  the  offices  he  did  ;  and 
as  he  had  no  son  to  succeed  him,  it  is 
not  at  all  unlikely  that  he  gave  up  the 
smithy,  and  with  it  the  house  connected 
therewith,  finding  the  manor-house  more 
convenient  and  suitable  to  his  dignity  as  a 
county  official.  It  should  be  possible,  and 
it  certainly  would  be  interesting,  to  settle 
this  question,  if  some  one  with  access  to 
county  records  would  take  the  trouble  to 
ransack  them  a  couple  of  centuries  or  so 
back. 

There  is,  anyway,  a  good  deal  of  fascinat- 


160   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

ing  history  connected  with  the  old  manor- 
house,  as  well  as  with  the  rectory.  Mr. 
Whalley,  the  rector,  and  William  Hogarth, 
the  famous  painter  and  satirist,  were  in- 
timately acquainted,  and  the  latter  used  to 
visit  his  friend  at  Ecton  and  spend  much 
time  there  at  his  favourite  occupation.  These 
visits  extended  over  a  number  of  years,  and 
during  one  of  them  he  is  said  to  have 
painted  a  sign  for  the  village  inn  known 
as  The  World's  End.  Cole,  in  his  little 
book  above  cited,  says  :  "  The  World's  End 
was  built  about  sixty  years  since,"  and  he 
goes  on  to  say  that,  as  Hogarth  was  staying 
in  the  village  about  that  time,  "it  is  very 
probable  that  it  received  its  sign  from  that 
celebrated  artist's  curious  emblematical  pro- 
duction under  the  same  title." 

This    is    not    at    all    unlikely.      Tradition 
says  that  the  sign  showed  a  replica  of  the 


THE   HOME  OF  THE  FRANKLINS    161 

roofless  hut  with  the  post  and  cross-tree  in 
front  carrying  a  board  whereon  was  painted 
a  globe  on  fire,  to  be  seen  in  Hogarth's 
grim  conception  of  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  painting  may,  of  course,  have  been 
done  by  some  local  limner  as  a  sly  way  of 
showing  honour  to  the  rector's  frequent 
guest  ;  although  it  would  have  been  quite 
in  keeping  with  Hogarth's  spirit  of  jest  to 
paint  it  himself  and  present  it  to  the  village 
Boniface.  Ecton  was  noted  in  these  days 
for  the  number  of  Hogarthian  pictures  it 
could  show.  There  were  some  at  the 
rectory ;  Mr.  Isted,  the  lord  of  the  manor, 
possessed  others ;  and  if  we  may  believe 
what  perhaps  is  no  more  than  common 
report,  there  were  a  few  at  the  manor- 
house. 

One  wonders  if  the  sign  was  there  when 
Franklin  paid  his  visit  to  the  place  in  1758, 
ii 


162   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

and  found  the  rector's  wife  so  "  good-natured 
and  chatty,"  and  if  he  heard  from  her  gossip 
also  of  that  master-spirit  of  a  curious,  many- 
coloured,  low-grovelling  yet  upward-aspiring 
age,  of  whom  and  his  mordant  though  not 
unkindly  art  she  must  have  heard  much,  if 
she  had  not  actually  met  the  man. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SCROOBY    AND    THE    PILGRIM    FATHERS 

"  I  ^HERE  is  hardly  a  more  interesting  spot 
"*•  in  all  England  to  New  Englanders  than 
the  little  village  of  Scrooby  in  Nottingham- 
shire, close  to  the  Yorkshire  border.  It  is 
a  typical  English  village,  and  though  of 
course  much  modernised  it  still  retains  many 
of  its  old-time  features,  including  the  parish 
church,  albeit  that  too  has  undergone  some 
changes.  Dedicated  to  St.  Wilfrid,  its  lofty 
octagonal  spire,  shooting  up  into  the  blue 
from  the  pinnacled  tower,  seems  to  look 
around  with  quiet  delight  upon  the  fair 
scene  of  woodland  and  mead  that  once 

formed    part    of    Sherwood    Forest    and    is 
163 


164  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

still  to  the  inner  eye  peopled  with  fairy 
folk  and  the  dreams  of  old  romance.  It  is 
an  ancient  embattled  edifice  of  stone  in 
the  Early  English  and  Decorated  styles, 
fair  to  look  upon,  with  many  memorials  of 
the  past,  but  none  to  equal  the  memories 
that  might  be  yielded  up  by  its  cracks  and 
crannies  had  what  are  sometimes  called 
dead  objects  the  living  power  to  give  forth 
again  the  treasured  sights  and  sounds 
gathered  up  and  everywhere  stored  by  the 
palpitating  ether  that  fills  and  vitalises  space. 
For  Scrooby  is  situated  on  the  great  north 
road  between  Tuxford  and  Doncaster,  and 
was  at  one  time  an  important  "post"  for 
those  who  had  to  use  the  highways  for 
business  or  pleasure.  Since  the  building  of 
the  Great  Northern  Railway,  however,  on 
which  Scrooby  possesses  a  station,  the 
village  has  lost  its  importance  as  a  posting 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  165 

centre,  though  it  is  still  a  busy  little  place, 
and  the  focus  of  much  agricultural  life  and 
activity.  The  rivers  Idle  and  Ryton  bound 
the  parish  on  the  north-east  and  west  sides, 
and  these,  in  Tennyson's  phrase,  still  "  flow 
on  for  ever,"  as  in  the  days  of  Wolsey,  in 
the  days  of  Sandys,  and  in  those  of  the 
Brewsters  and  Bradfords,  with  whom  its 
name  and  fame  are  to-day  so  closely,  and 
in  the  minds  of  New  Englanders,  so  lovingly 
associated. 

At  one  end  of  the  village  street  the 
course  of  the  Ryton  is  spanned  by  a 
picturesque  mill,  the  ancient  stones  of  which 
bear  the  names  of  the  people  who  cut  them 
in  1710.  The  old  archiepiscopal  mansion 
belonging  to  the  See  of  York,  once  its 
glory,  has  long  since  disappeared,  albeit 
some  buildings  formerly  connected  with  it 
still  remain.  Though  not  exactly  of  palatial 


166  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

dimensions,  it  formed  a  very  considerable 
residence,  "  builded  yn  courtes  whereof  the 
first  is  very  ample,"  Leyland  tells  us  in  his 
"  Itinerary,"  and  when  it  was  the  fashion 
for  prelates  to  hunt  its  walls  echoed  to 
many  a  merry  wassail.  Henry  VIII.  once 
spent  a  night  within  its  walls  on  his  way 
into  Yorkshire,  and  Wolsey  in  the  heyday 
of  his  prosperity  is  known  to  have  visited 
it  several  times.  In  1530,  on  the  eve  of 
his  downfall,  he  passed  some  weeks  at  this 
pleasant  but  sequestered  retreat,  no  doubt 
with  thoughts  often  in  his  mind  similar  to 
those  which  Shakespeare  puts  into  his 
mouth  : 

Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
I  serv'd  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age 
Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies. 

After  leaving  Scrooby  he  proceeded  to 
Cawood,  and  was  there  arrested. 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  167 

Here,  it  has  been  suggested,  the  project 
for  the  colonisation  of  New  England  may 
have  been  first  mooted.  But  though  that 
is  doubtful,  there  can  be  no  question  that 
at  Scrooby,  at  all  events,  the  spirit  arose 
which  led  to  the  founding  of  the  first 
colony,  and  here  those  who  were  moved 
by  that  spirit  found  their  nobly  inspired 
leaders.  William  Brewster,  one  of  the 
chief  founders  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  was 
a  native  of  Scrooby,  born  there  either 
during  the  last  half  of  1566  or  the  first 
half  of  1567.*  His  father,  named  William 
like  himself,  held  the  position  of  bailiff  of 

*  It  has  been  held  by  some  that,  because  the  coat 
of  arms  preserved  in  the  Brewster  family  in  America 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  ancient  Suffolk  family  of 
the  same  name,  Elder  Brewster  must  have  been  a 
descendant  of  Brewsters  of  that  county.  The  circum- 
stances, however,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  sup- 
position that  the  Brewsters  of  Scrooby  were  a  collateral 
branch  of  the  Suffolk  sept. 


168  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  manor  of  Scrooby,  which  belonged  to 
the  See  of  York,  being  appointed  to  the 
post  by  Archbishop  Sandys  in  the  month 
of  January  1575-6.  He  was  accorded  a 
life-tenure  of  the  office,  his  residence  being 
the  old  palace  or  hunting-seat,  which,  it 
has  been  remarked,  under  the  graver  manners 
of  Protestantism,  a  prelate  like  Sandys 
would  hardly  require.  To  his  office  of 
bailiff"  Brewster  joined  that  of  postmaster ; 
that  is,  he  had  to  furnish  horses  to  travel- 
lers who  arrived  at  Scrooby,  and  wished 
to  go  forward  to  the  next  "post,"  either 
north  or  south.  Under  certain  circum- 
stances also  he  might  be  required  to  supply 
them  with  food  and  lodging. 

Here  therefore  young  Brewster  spent  his 
youth,  seeing  such  life  as  was  to  be  met 
with  in  a  small  hamlet  like  Scrooby,  slow 
and  rude  for  the  most  part,  though  not 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  169 

without  its  livelier  episodes  when  gay 
cavalcades  of  travellers  or  other  wayfarers 
appeared  upon  the  scene,  filled  the  air  for 
a  brief  space  with  visions  of  the  larger 
world,  and  then  passed  on  ;  or  when  per- 
chance some  heavy-browed  man,  weighted 
with  the  cares  of  State,  tarried  for  an  hour's 
rest,  or  may  be  spent  the  night  there, 
supping  with  the  tenant  of  the  old  archi- 
episcopal  palace,  listening  to  the  gossip  as 
to  who  had  lately  come  and  gone  that  way, 
and  hearing  in  return  news  of  the  doings 
at  Court  or  in  the  world  beyond  the  seas, 
where  in  those  stirring  days  there  were 
always  things  going  on  calculated  to  fire 
men's  blood.  Many  an  enterprise  of  the 
kind  must  have  come  to  young  Brewster's 
ears  while  yet  in  his  callow  youth,  when 
in  company  with  his  cousin  James  he  was 
taking  in  the  rudiments  of  learning  as  they 


170  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

were  understood  in  Elizabeth's  days.  For 
there  was,  contemporary  with  William 
Brewster,  the  elder,  a  Henry  Brewster, 
supposed  to  have  been  his  brother,  who 
was  at  once  Vicar  of  Sutton-cum-Lound 
and  Rector  of  Scrooby,  and  who  after  thirty- 
eight  years  of  service  was  (1598)  succeeded 
by  his  son  James.  The  signature  of  this 
James  (who  died  in  1614)  is  said  to  have 
had  so  striking  a  resemblance  to  that  of 
the  younger  William  Brewster  as  to  suggest 
their  having  been  educated  together,  possibly 
by  the  father  and  uncle,  Henry  Brewster. 

To  whomsoever  it  was  that  he  owed  his 
early  education,  it  must  have  been  very 
thorough,  as  we  find  that  he  matriculated 
at  Peterhouse,  Cambridge,  December  3rd, 
1580,  that  is,  if  the  assumed  year  of  his 
birth  be  the  correct  one,  when  he  was  about 
fourteen  years  of  age.  How  long  he  re- 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  171 

mained  at  the  University  is  not  known. 
Bradford,  in  his  "Memoir"  of  Brewster, 
says  he  "spent  some  small  time"  there, 
attaining  "  some  knowledge  of  the  Latin 
tongue  and  some  insight  in  the  Greek." 
In  any  case  he  appears  not  to  have  re- 
mained long  enough  to  take  his  degree, 
and  while  still  in  his  nonage  he  left  college 
and  entered  the  service  of  William  Davison, 
Secretary  of  State  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
who,  we  are  told,  found  him  so  "  discreete 
and  faithfull,"  and  so  given  to  serious 
thoughts,  that  he  was  led  to  "  esteem  him 
rather  as  a  son  than  as  a  servant,"  and 
employed  him  in  matters  of  special  trust 
and  confidence,  in  preference  to  his  fellow 
clerks.  When,  in  August,  1585,  Davison 
went  on  his  embassy  to  the  Netherlands, 
Brewster  accompanied  him  and  was  again 
trusted  with  such  implicit  confidence  that 


172  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

into  his  keeping  were  given  the  keys  of 
three  of  the  "strong  places"  of  Holland, 
which  the  ambassador  received  as  security 
for  a  loan,  and  of  these  he  was  so  careful 
as  to  sleep  of  nights  with  them  under  his 
pillow. 

These  months  spent  in  Holland  must 
have  had  a  powerful  influence  upon  so 
thoughtful  and  receptive  a  mind  as  Brewster's. 
The  "  sight  of  a  brave  people  in  arms  for 
national  and  religious  freedom "  was  one 
calculated  to  awaken  feelings  and  start 
trains  of  thought  that  never  again  became 
entirely  dormant  and  were  in  the  coming 
years  to  rise  like  plants  in  the  springtime 
and  bear  flowers  and  fruit  in  season. 

On  his  master's  return  from  his  mission 
Brewster  continued  to  serve  him  until  his 
downfall  in  1587,  when  (one  of  his  bio- 
graphers tells  us)  he  "  turned  away  from 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  173 

the  dangerous  attractions  of  the  Court,  that 
had  proved  so  fateful  to  Davison,  and 
returning  to  Scrooby,  acted  as  assistant  to 
his  father  in  the  duties  of  the  post."  There 
he  lived  "  in  good  esteem  amongst  his 
friends,  and  ye  gentlemen  of  those  parts, 
especially  the  godly  and  religious,"  doing 
much  good  "  in  promoting  and  furthering 
religion."  * 

In  1590  Brewster  was  appointed  admini- 
strator of  the  estate  of  his  father,  who  died 
in  the  summer  of  that  year.  He  appears 
at'  that  time  to  have  succeeded  to  the 
tenancy  of  the  manor  farm,  and  applied  for 
the  postmastership.  Sir  John  Stanhope, 
however,  who  had  become  Postmaster- 
General  in  June  1590,  appointed  one  Bever- 
cotes  to  the  office,  and  it  was  only  through 
the  influence  of  his  old  friend  Davison  that 
*  Bradford's  Memoir. 


174  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Brewster  was  finally  granted  the  post  which 
his  father  had  held  so  long,  and,  it  is 
thought  by  some,  his  grandfather  before 
him.  In  this  position  the  future  Plymouth 
Elder  remained  from  April,  1594,  or  earlier, 
until  the  autumn  of  1607. 

During  these  years  his  place  of  residence 
was  the  manor-house,  or  old  archiepiscopal 
palace,  above  referred  to,  his  salary  as 
"post"  being  at  first  is.  8d.,  and  then 
(after  July,  1603)  2S-  5^.  per  diem.  Here 
it  was,  we  are  told,  that,  having  become 
converted  to  those  serious  views  of  religion 
which  were  then  spreading  through  the 
country,  especially  in  the  Midland  counties, 
Brewster  "  on  the  Lord's  Day  entertained 
with  great  love"  a  company  of  Brownists 
or  Separatists,  "  making  provision  for  them 
to  his  great  charge."  Tradition  says  they 
gathered  for  worship  in  one  of  the  out- 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  175 

buildings  of  the  manor,  there  being  no 
other  convenient  place  in  the  village  wherein 
they  could  meet.  With  his  zealous  example 
as  their  guide,  aided  by  the  ministrations 
of  John  Smyth,  once  curate  of  Gainsborough, 
and  Richard  Clifton,  who  had  held  the 
livings  of  Marnham  and  Babworth,  the 
growing  congregation  made  great  progress. 
Notable  accessions  to  its  numbers  were 
found  in  the  Rev.  John  Robinson,  whose 
name  has  been  handed  down  to  posterity 
in  honourable  connection  with  the  story  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  in  William 
Bradford,  the  son  of  a  yeoman  of  Auster- 
field,  a  little  Yorkshire  village  a  mile  or 
two  north  of  Scrooby,  the  old  manor-house 
of  which,  the  home  of  the  Bradfords,  is 
still  in  existence. 

Here,    when    the    subsidy    of   1575    was 
collected,  the  only  persons  having  sufficient 


176   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

property  to  be  rated  were  William  Brad- 
ford and  John  Hanson.  Nine  years  later 
the  son  and  daughter  of  these  two,  named 
William  and  Alice  respectively,  were 
married,  and  in  due  course  two  daughters 
and  a  son  were  born  to  them.  The  son 
was  William  Bradford,  afterwards  Governor 
of  the  Plymouth  colony,  and  according  to 
the  entry  still  to  be  seen  in  the  old  register, 
was  baptized  in  the  parish  church  on 
March  igth,  1589.  The  family  held  the 
rank  of  yeomen,  and  on  the  death  of  his 
father  in  1591,  young  Bradford,  according 
to  Mather,  was  left  with  a  comfortable 
inheritance,  and  was  "cast  on  the  education 
first  of  his  grandparents  and  then  of  his 
uncles,"  who  trained  him,  like  his  ancestors, 
to  the  calling  of  husbandry.  He  is  said 
to  have  had  his  attention  turned  to  religion 
through  the  reading  of  the  Geneva  Bible 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  177 

at  the  early  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  and 
shortly  afterwards  took  to  attending  the 
ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clifton,  the 
Puritan  Rector  of  Babworth,  whither,  with 
William  Brewster  and  others,  he  used  to 
walk  on  Sundays  to  hear  that  "  faithful 
pastor's  edifying  word." 

As,  however,  the  distance  to  Babworth 
was  a  matter  of  five  miles,  it  was  not  a 
walk  which  all  could  take,  even  though 
they  were  thirsting  for  the  truth.  And 
that  there  were  thirsting  ones  at  Scrooby 
was  known  ;  for  though,  when  James  I. 
came  to  the  throne,  there  was  supposed  to 
be  but  one  Separatist  church  left  in  the 
whole  of  England,  and  that  at  Gains- 
borough (twelve  miles  west  of  Scrooby), 
whence  its  members  were,  in  1605-6,  com- 
pelled to  seek  refuge  in  Holland  ;  yet  here 

and  there   were    left    individuals    and    small 
12 


178  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

groups  of  the  faithful  whom  persecution 
had  only  driven  into  hiding,  not  into  denial, 
and  of  these  not  a  few  were  to  be  found  in 
Scrooby.  Of  these  it  was  necessary  to  take 
thought,  and  so  Brewster — soon  after  to  be 
elected  Elder — began  to  gather  them  together 
under  the  roof  of  the  old  archiepiscopal 
hunting-box,  and  as  Richard  Clifton  appears 
to  have  been  ejected  from  his  living  about 
this  time,  he  was  chosen  pastor  of  the  little 
flock. 

Little  remains  of  the  old  palace  save  the 
manor-farm,  to  an  outer  wall  of  which  a 
brass  plate  has  been  affixed,  bearing  an 
inscription  to  the  effect  that  the  tablet  was 
so  placed  by  the  Pilgrim  Society  of  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts,  to  mark  the  site  of 
the  ancient  Manor  House  wherein  William 
Brewster  organised  the  Pilgrim  Church. 

Bradford  soon  threw  in  his   lot   with  the 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  179 

rest.  Notwithstanding  the  strong  opposition 
of  his  relatives  and  the  scoffs  of  neighbours, 
he  joined  the  Separatists  on  May  ist,  1606, 
at  the  house  of  his  friend  Brewster.  Being 
a  youth  of  spirit  and  resolution,  as  well  as 
of  some  prospective  means,  his  accession 
to  the  little  community  doubtless  tended  to 
strengthen  and  encourage  it,  although  the 
progress  of  the  movement  appears  to  have 
been  chiefly  due  to  the  zeal  and  influence 
of  Brewster,  who,  according  to  Bradford, 
was  "a  special  stay  and  help"  to  the  little 
flock.  Though,  in  point  of  social  position, 
the  former  was  hardly  superior  to  Bradford, 
and  possibly  some  others  of  the  community, 
he  was,  as  regards  education  and  experience 
of  the  world,  the  best  qualified  to  take  the 
lead,  as  well  in  worldly  as  in  other  affairs. 
When  they  "  had  been  about  a  year 
together"  the  threat  of  persecution  caused 


180  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  community  to  resolve  on  following  the 
example  of  the  Gainsborough  congregation 
and  removing  with  their  families  and  effects 
to  Holland.  This  determination  was  come 
to  towards  the  end  of  1607.  Brewster 
relinquished  his  post  in  September  of  that 
year,  and  those  of  his  fellow  religionists 
who  had  property  turned  it  into  cash. 
Meanwhile  Bradford  and  some  other  mem- 
bers of  the  party  had  entered  into  negotia- 
tions with  a  Dutch  captain,  who  agreed  to 
embark  them  at  Boston,  forty  miles  distant 
from  Scrooby,  somewhat  decayed  from  what 
it  had  been,  but  still  a  port  of  considerable 
importance,  whose  church  (of  St.  Botolph) 
Longfellow  tells  us — 

Far  over  leagues  of  land 

And  leagues  of  sea  looks  forth  its  noble  tower, 
And  far  around  the  chiming  bells  are  heard. 

Thither,  at  the   time  appointed,   carrying 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  181 

such  valuables  as  they  wished  to  take  with 
them,  they  made  their  way,  men,  women, 
and  children,  with  no  small  toil  and  diffi- 
culty. The  King,  however,  had  closed  the 
ports  against  such  as  had  not  his  licence 
to  depart,  and  the  Dutch  skipper,  either 
through  fear,  or  to  get  a  further  bribe  from 
the  authorities  as  an  informer,  betrayed 
them  to  the  catchpoles,  with  the  result 
that  the  poor  Pilgrims,  when  they  hoped 
to  be  soon  out  at  sea  and  watching  Boston 
"  Stump,"  as  the  old  church  tower  was 
called,  gradually  receding  from  view,  found 
themselves  seized  and  roughly  hauled  ashore. 
Not  only  did  they  thus  lose  their  passage 
money,  but  while  in  the  boats  on  their 
way  to  land  they  were  robbed  of  their 
money  and  effects  and  otherwise  barbarously 
handled. 

It   is  creditable   to  the  good  feelings  and 


182  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

humanity  of  the  magistrates  of  Boston  to 
be  able  to  say  that  they  treated  the  fugitives 
with  courtesy,  and  would  have  discharged 
them  if  that  course  had  been  within  their 
power.  As  it  was  not,  most  of  the  poor 
people  languished  in  prison  for  a  month 
and  were  then  dismissed.  Brewster,  Brad- 
ford, and  five  other  leading  men  were  kept 
in  prison  until  the  assizes,  when  they  were 
subjected  to  heavy  fines.  This  robbery  by 
the  minions  of  the  law  at  Boston,  followed 
by  legal  fines,  fell  heavily  upon  the  little 
company,  and  especially  upon  Brewster,  who 
was  thereby  "  rendered  so  nearly  destitute 
that  for  years  he  lived  in  Holland  in  the 
greatest  poverty — he  who,"  as  one  of  his 
biographers  quaintly  observes,  "  had  once 
kept  the  keys  of  Dutch  cities  and  feasted 
with  princes  and  ambassadors." 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  though  the 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  183 

Pilgrims  were  treated  so  badly  at  Boston, 
in  after-years  the  evil  recollection  rankled 
so  little  in  their  minds  that  their  chief  city 
was  named  after  the  old  port.  This  arose 
from  the  fact  that  our  Lincolnshire  Boston, 
noted  at  the  time  for  its  liberality,  soon 
after  became  distinguished  for  its  Noncon- 
formity, as  well  as  for  sending  out  many 
notable  men  to  the  New  England  colony. 
One  historian  gives  it  credit  for  contributing 
a  greater  number  of  the  leading  families 
to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  settlement  than 
any  other  place  except  London.  It  cer- 
tainly is  a  striking  fact  that  among  the 
emigrants  who  went  thence  were  the  vicar, 
John  Cotton,  Governors  Thomas  Dudley, 
Bellingham,  and  Leverett,  and  the  magistrate, 
William  Coddington,  afterwards  governor  of 
Rhode  Island. 

In   the   following   spring    many   of   those 


184  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

who  had  been  baulked  in  their  first  attempt, 
with  others,  agreed  with  the  captain  of  a 
Dutch  vessel  then  at  Hull  to  embark  them 
at  Grimsby  Common,  a  tract  of  waste  land 
near  the  mouth  of  the  H umber.  Making 
their  way  thither  by  stealth  via  Gains- 
borough, some  managed  to  get  on  board, 
and,  after  a  prolonged  and  dangerous  passage, 
arrived  in  Amsterdam  ;  others  were  again 
foiled ;  albeit  in  the  end  most  of  those 
whose  zeal  held  out,  aided  by  the  patriarchs 
of  the  flock,  Clifton,  Robinson,  and  Brewster 
(all,  with  the  Rev.  John  Smyth,  Cambridge 
men),  succeeded  in  reaching  their  present 
haven  of  peace — Holland,  a  land  notable 
in  its  day  for  the  lead  it  gave  the  modern 
world  in  respect  of  liberty  and  tolerance 
touching  religious  matters. 

Brewster  was  one   of  the   last    to    leave. 
Both    he   and    Bradford,   as  well  as  others, 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  185 

had  a  hard  time  of  it  in  the  country  of  their 
adoption,  many  of  them  having  to  learn 
new  handicrafts  or  ways  of  living  in  order 
to  meet  their  daily  needs.  In  any  case 
their  sojourn  among  the  Dutch  was  not  a 
bed  of  roses,  and  in  course  of  time,  actuated 
by  the  desire  to  live  "  as  English  folk  under 
English  rule,"  the  idea,  first  mooted,  it  is 
said,  in  the  Scrooby  days,  of  emigrating 
to  an  English  colony,  came  up  afresh,  and 
found  warm  supporters  in  both  Brewster 
and  Bradford. 

Impetus  was  no  doubt  given  to  the 
scheme  by  the  fact  that  an  order  was  issued 
for  Brewster's  arrest,  at  the  instance  of  the 
English  Government.  Brewster  after  a  time 
supported  himself  at  Leyden  by  teaching 
English  to  German  and  Danish  students 
at  the  University.  Afterwards  he  set  up 
a  printing  press,  issuing  therefrom  such 


186  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

theological  works  as  could  not  safely  be 
published  here,  and  some  of  these  finding 
their  way  to  London,  the  English  Govern- 
ment (in  1619)  complained  and  asked  to 
have  Brewster  arrested  and  sent  for  trial 
in  England.  The  Dutch,  having  just  then 
special  reasons  for  wishing  to  be  on  good 
terms  with  James,  at  once  agreed,  and  in 
due  course  an  arrest  was  made — of  some 
one  with  a  name  not  unlike  Brewster.  This 
knowledge  coming  to  the  latter's  ears,  he 
immediately  took  flight  and,  getting  back 
to  England,  found  London  a  safe  and  com- 
modious hiding-place. 

Here  privily  and  with  the  aid  of  friends 
(among  whom  must  be  named  the  Rev.  John 
White,  rector  of  Holy  Trinity,  Dorchester) 
he  was  able  to  help  forward  the  emigration 
scheme.  Originally  the  choice  of  the  Pil- 
grims lay  between  Guiana  and  Virginia,  but 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  187 

for  obvious  reasons  the  latter  colony  was 
finally  decided  upon.  One  of  Brewster's 
companions  while  in  the  employ  of  Davison 
was  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  the  son  of  the 
Archbishop,  afterwards  treasurer  of  the 
Virginia  Company,  and  it  was  with  his 
assistance  that  a  patent  was  eventually  ap- 
plied for  and  obtained  for  a  tract  of  land 
to  found  a  settlement  in  that  colony.  The 
remainder  of  the  story  need  not  be  told 
here ;  it  is  too  well  known  to  need  re- 
capitulation. On  September  5th,  1620, 
Brewster  and  Bradford,  with  a  company  of 
Pilgrims,  numbering  in  all  a  hundred  men, 
women,  and  children,  embarked  for  their 
destination  in  the  Mayflower  and  Speedwell 
at  Southampton  ;  but  before  they  had  gone 
far  down  the  Channel,  the  captain  of  the 
latter  refused  to  continue  the  voyage,  de- 
claring his  vessel  unseaworthy.  Wherefore, 


188  AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

putting  in  at  Plymouth,  all  the  Pilgrims  were 
then  transferred  to  the  Mayflower,  which 
then  continued  her  voyage  ;  and  as  Provi- 
dence and  the  elements  would,  landed  in 
due  course  on  the  rock  where  they  were 
destined,  more  perhaps  than  any  other  single 
body  of  men,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a 
State  that  to-day  stands  second  to  none  in 
the  living  world. 

Plymouth,*  as  the  last  port  the  emigrants 
touched  at  before  committing  themselves  to 
the  broad  sweep  of  the  Atlantic,  fittingly 
gave  its  name  to  the  rock  upon  which 
Mary  Chilton  was  the  first  to  spring  and 
to  the  settlement  which,  it  may  be  truly 
said,  started  a  new  era  in  the  world's 
history  ;  seeing  that  the  Pilgrims,  before 

*  Where,  on  the  sea-wall,  is  to  be  seen  a  tablet 
bearing  an  inscription  giving  the  date  of  the  sailing  of 
the  Mayflower,  while  a  stone  in  the  pavement  of  the 
adjacent  pier  marks  the  place  of  embarkation. 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  189 

landing,  actually  drew  up  and  signed  a 
social  or  civic  contract  such  as  Rousseau 
afterwards  dreamed  and  wrote  about. 

Before  the  departure  of  the  ships  Elder 
Brewster,  it  is  said,  paid  a  visit  to  his  old 
home  by  the  Idle,  to  see  and  say  farewell 
to  many  co-religionists  who,  from  age  or  other 
disabilities,  were  compelled  to  live  out  their 
days,  patient  and  resigned,  in  their  little 
houses  and  narrowed  bounds.  Little  houses 
with  narrowed  bounds  :  and  yet  how  many 
have  been  the  great  souls  the  world  has 
seen  struggling  to  light  in  them  !  We  can 
imagine  the  great-hearted  Brewster  going 
from  one  to  another,  bidding  them  farewell, 
with  words  of  cheer  and  encouragement, 
and  leaving  behind  him  the  never-to-be- 
obliterated  memory  of  a  man  of  noble  stature, 
habited  in  a  coat  of  purple  velvet,  green 
vest,  and  grey  corduroy  small  clothes,  but, 


190  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

more  than  all  these,  wearing  ever  a  smile 
of  ineffable  sweetness  on  his  grave  and 
handsome  face. 

At  the  same  time,  we  may  be  sure,  he 
paid  also  a  visit  to  the  faithful  at  Gains- 
borough, so  intimately  associated  with  the 
Puritan  movement,  and  with  the  labours  of 
John  Smyth  and  John  Robinson,  especially 
the  latter  (held  by  some  to  have  been 
born  there),  to  whom  a  Memorial  Church 
was  erected  in  1896,  when  the  foundation 
stone  was  laid,  on  June  29,  by  the  Hon. 
T.  F.  Bayard,  the  American  Ambassador 
to  England. 

Nor  is  it  unlikely  that  he  was  accompanied 
by  John  Carver,  one  of  the  elders  of  the 
company  of  Pilgrims,  who,  though  it  is  not 
known  for  certain,  is  supposed  to  have  been 
a  native  of  those  parts.  Certain  it  is  that 
he  took  refuge  in  Holland  with  the  others 


SCROOBY  AND  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  191 

in  1607-8,  and  became  a  deacon  of  Mr. 
Robinson's  church  at  Leyden.  A  "grave, 
pious,  prudent,  self-denying,  and  judicious  " 
man,  he,  along  with  the  rest,  threw  his  estate 
into  the  common  lot  when  the  brotherhood 
set  out  for  the  New  World,  and  on  arrival 
there  was  chosen  first  governor,  to  hold  the 
office  until  the  following  year  (1621)  only, 
death  then  taking  him  from  the  scene. 


CHAPTER    IX 

A    LANCASHIRE    AND    A    SUFFOLK    HERO 

Just  then  the  ghost  drew  up  his  chair 
And  said,  "  My  name  is  Standish "  ! 

LOWELL. 

IV  /T  ILES  of  that  ilk  ;  that  is,  of  Standish 
*•  ••••  by  Wigan  in  Lancashire  :  from 
which  county  came,  as  we  have  seen,  another 
family  that  gave  to  the  New  World  a  man 
as  stalwart  as  he — to  wit,  George  Washing- 
ton, the  first  President.  Nothing  much  is 
known  of  Miles  Standish's  early  life,  save 
that,  a  scion  of  the  old  Lancashire  family 
that  takes  its  patronymic  from  the  village 
of  that  name,  he  was  probably  born,  though 
this  is  not  certain,  at  Duxbury  Hall,  situate 

between    Wigan    and     Chorley    (ij    miles 
192 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  193 

south  of  the  latter  place),  and  within  two  or 
three  miles  of  Standish.  From  his  will 
we  learn  that  his  great-grandfather  was  a 
"  second  or  younger  brother  of  the  house 
of  Standish,  of  Standish,"  while  from  the 
circumstance  that  he  gave  to  his  estate  in 
New  England  the  name  of  Duxbury  it 
has  been  inferred  that  he  was  descended 
from  the  Duxbury  branch  of  the  family. 

This  inference  would  appear  to  be  borne 
out  by  the  circumstance  that  his  arms  and 
crest  were  those  of  the  Duxbury  branch. 
He  (says  Longfellow) — 

Still   bore   the  family  arms,   and   has   for   his   crest  a 

cock  argent 
Combed  and  wattled   gules,   and   all   the   rest   of  the 

blazon ; 

the  crest  of  the  Standish  branch  being  an 

owl  with  a  rat  in  its  claw  proper.     These 

arms   are  still    to   be   seen    in    the   chancel 
13 


194  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

window  of  Chorley  old  church,  where 
the  quaint  family  pew  of  the  Standishes 
(in  the  nave  opposite  the  pulpit)  is  also 
shown. 

For  some  unknown  reason  he  appears  to 
have  been  deprived  of  a  part,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  his  inheritance.  The  clause  in 
his  will  referred  to  says:  "I  give  unto 
my  son  and  heir-apparent,  Alexander 
Standish,  all  my  lands  as  heir-apparent  by 
lawful  descent  in  Ormskirk,  Burscough, 
Wrightington,  Mawdsley,  Newburrow, 
Croxton,  and  in  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  given 
to  me  as  right  heir  by  lawful  descent,  but 
surreptitiously  detained  from  me,  my  great- 
grandfather being  a  second  or  younger 
brother  of  the  house  of  Standish,  of 
Standish." 

There  is  something  inexplicable  in  the 
charge  herein  contained ;  albeit  some  colour 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  195 

is  given  to  it  by  the  circumstance  that  the 
pages  of  the  church  register  of  Chorley 
containing  the  births  for  1584-5  (in  the 
former  of  which  years  Standish  is  supposed 
to  have  been  born)  has  been  defaced.  One 
investigator  into  the  family  history  and 
pedigree  finds  that  in  the  great  controversy 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants  there  was 
a  division  in  the  family,  part  adhering  to 
the  ancient  faith,  and  part  to  the  Protestant 
religion.  Thus  there  arose,  as  it  were,  two 
families— the  Standishes  who  were  of  Stand- 
ish Hall  and  the  Standishes  who  were  of 
Duxbury  Hall.  The  inference  intended  to 
be  drawn  from .  this  statement  is,  apparently, 
that  the  odium  theologicum  led  to  Miles,  the 
Puritan  scion  of  the  house,  being  deprived 
of  his  patrimony.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
has  been  shown  that  the  two  branches  of 
the  family  existed  from  a  very  early  date. 


196   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Contemporary  with  Miles  Standish  there 
was  at  Standish  Hall  (in  the  main  line) 
Ralph  Standish,  while  the  representative  of 
the  Duxbury  Hall  branch  at  the  same  time 
was  Thomas  Standish,  whose  three  sons  suc- 
cessively held  the  estate,  the  last  of  them 
being  the  father  of  Sir  Henry  Standish, 
Bart,  (created  such  in  1677).  To  add  to 
the  mystery  of  this  alleged  deprivation  of 
inheritance,  it  has  been  pointed  out  that, 
if  Miles  Standish  belonged  to  the  Standishes 
of  Standish,  it  was  very  odd  that  he  should 
have  given  to  his  estate  in  New  England 
the  name  of  Duxbury,  in  honour  of  the 
branch  of  the  family  to  which  he  did  not 
belong. 

The  whole  story,  however,  is  a  dead  one 
now,  and  need  not  further  concern  us  here. 
More  to  our  present  purpose  is  the  fact 
that  he  came  of  an  ancient  and  sturdy  race. 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  197 

In  Froissart  we  read  how,  in  the  time  of 
Richard  II.,  the  rebel,  Wat  Tyler,  was 
slain  by  a  "  squyer  of  the  Kinges  called  John 
Standysshe,"  who  was  honoured  with  knight- 
hood for  his  valliancy.  Longfellow  refers 
to  this  act  in  his  "  Courtship  of  Miles 
Standish  "  : 

One  of  my  ancestors  ran  his  sword  through  the  heart 
of  Wat  Tyler ; 

and  he  shows  how  the  Puritan  Standish 
was  of  the  same  quick,  resolute,  courageous, 
and  resourceful  spirit  as  his  doughty  fore- 
bear. Moreover,  his  natural  powers  had 
been  whetted  and  made  keener  of  edge  by 
experience  in  war,  he  having  while  still 
a  youth  entered  the  army  and  fought  under 
the  Veres  in  Holland,  rising  to  the  rank 
of  captain. 

We  can    well  believe    that   Standish  was 
no  mere  soldier  of  fortune,  but  was  led  to 


.-. 

198  AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

turn  his  sword  against  the  Spaniards  by 
the  faith,  and  we  may  add,  by  the  fury 
of  the  conviction  within  him  ;  for  he  was 
no  player  in  these  things,  but  a  soldier  to 
the  finger-tips,  one  who  came  to  the  point 
with  the  suddenness  and  rush  of  a  thunder- 
bolt (as  when  he  got  three  traitorous 
Indians  into  a  room  by  themselves  and  slew 
the  lot). 

After  the  truce  of  1609  Standish  went 
to  Leyden,  and  if  he  did  not  actually  join 
the  Separatist  or  Puritan  congregation  there, 
under  the  charge  of  John  Robinson,  he 
showed  himself  sufficiently  in  sympathy  with 
them  and  their  aims  to  become  one  of  the 
Pilgrim  company  which  in  1620  embarked 
in  the  Mayflower  for  the  Western  World, 
and  in  due  course  landed  with  them  in 
the  bay  of  Cape  Cod.  Here,  before  dis- 
embarkation, Standish  was  appointed  military 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  199 

commander,  his  duty  being  with  a  small 
body  of  armed  men,  having  "every  one 
his  musket,  sword,  and  corselet,"  to  explore 
the  country  round  and  see  that  no  lurking 
foes  were  about.  On  November  21,  we 
.are  told,  sixteen  such  warriors,  "under  the 
command  of  Captain  Myles  Standish,  were 
despatched  ashore  on  a  second  exploration." 
For  those  who  like  to  picture  the  hero  at 
the  head  of  this  little  company,  Long- 
fellow's description  will  serve  : 

Clad   in    doublet   and    hose,  and   boots   of   Cordovan 
leather. 


Short    of    stature     he    was,    but    strongly    built    and 

athletic, 
Broad    in   the   shoulders,  deep   chested,   with   muscles 

and  sinews  of  iron ; 
Brown   as  a  nut   was   his    face,   but    his   russet   beard 

was  already 
Flaked  with  patches  of  snow,  as  hedges  sometimes  in 

November. 


200   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

Five  years  later  Standish  revisited  England 
as  agent  for  the  colony  (doubtless  with  an 
eye  also  to  the  recovery  of  his  inheritance)  ; 
returning  in  the  following  year  with  supplies. 
During  the  intervening  months  in  the  home- 
land we  can  imagine  the  feelings  with  which 
he  retrod  the  beloved  scenes  of  his  youth, 
and  heard  again  the  well-remembered  dialect. 
We  can  imagine  too  the  emotion  with 
which  he  was  stirred  at  sight  of  Duxbury 
Hall  and  the  old  church ;  of  Standish,  too 
(with  its  old  cross  and  stocks,  well  known 
of  delinquents,  in  the  market-place),  so 
intimately  associated  with  the  lives  of  his 
people  ;  but,  deeper  still,  the  emotion  with 
which  he  was  moved  as,  treading  shaw 
and  clough,  he  felt  the  joy  of  the  earth- 
mother,  when,  breaking  from  under  ground 
with  flower  and  leaf  to  meet  the  newly 
returning  sky-lover,  she  caused  the  whole 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  201 

land  to  resound  with  the  chavish  of  laverock 
and  throstle.  Very  different  now  is  the 
scene,  with  its  coal-pits  and  iron-works, 
from  what  it  was  in  Standish's  day  ;  but  even 
yet,  notwithstanding  blackness  and  grime, 
hedgerows  whiten  in  spring-time,  and  fields 
gladden  with  colour  and  song,  the  more 
perhaps  because  of  the  contrast. 

Returning  to  Massachusetts,  "  the  first 
commissioned  military  officer  of  New  Eng- 
land," as  Miles  Standish  has  been  styled, 
settled  down  for  the  remainder  of  his 
days  at  Duxbury,  living  some  thirty  years 
longer  in  his  new  home,  and  leaving  behind 
him  a  reputation  that  has  inspired  the 
pens  of  two  of  the  best  poets  of  his 
country,  Lowell  and  Longfellow,  besides 
others,  one  of  whom  styles  him,  and  not 
inaptly,  "  the  Greatheart  of  the  Pilgrim 
band." 


202  AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Much  such  another  man  as  Standish,  in 
general  character,  was  John  Winthrop,  first 
governor  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  Born  at  Edwardston,  Suffolk,  in  the 
month  of  January,  1587,  his  early  life  was 
spent  at  Groton  Manor,  situated  about  five 
miles  east  of  the  little  town  of  Sudbury, 
in  a  pleasant  undulating  country,  famous 
as  having  given  birth  to  two  of  England's 
greatest  painters,  Gainsborough  and  Con- 
stable. 

The  Manor  was  in  former  days  a  pos- 
session of  the  Abbots  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
and  in  the  third  year  of  Richard  I.  Abbot 
Sampson  (of  whom  we  learn  so  much  in 
Carlyle's  "  Past  and  Present ")  leased  it  to 
one  Adam  Copefield  for  life.  Subsequently 
(1544)  Adam  Winthrop,  of  Lavenham,  a 
substantial  clothier,  who  had  been  granted 
the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London  in  1526, 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  203 

and  was  Master  of  the  Clothworkers'  Com- 
pany in  1551,  obtained  the  estate  by  grant, 
and  there  settled  for  good,  having  been  (in 
1548)  empowered  to  sign  himself  "  Armiger." 
Adam  Winthrop  was  the  grandfather  of 
John,  later  known  as  the  "  Moses  of  New 
England."  His  father  appears  to  have 
been  called  to  the  Bar,  and  was  auditor 
to  Trinity  and  St.  John's  Colleges,  Cam- 
bridge, whither  he  went  from  time  to  time 
on  the  business  of  his  office. 

John  Winthrop  was  admitted  at  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  in  December,  1602, 
and  continued  his  studies  there  until  his 
marriage,  in  1605,  to  the  daughter  and 
heiress  of  John  Forth  of  Great  Stambridge, 
near  Rochford,  in  the  south-eastern  district 
of  Essex,  in  which  place  he  abode  for  some 
years.  He  is  said  to  have  been  made  a 
justice  of  the  peace  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 


204   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

In  1626  Winthrop  was  appointed  attorney 
in  the  Court  of  Wards  and  Liveries,  pre- 
sided over  by  Sir  Robert  Naunton.  The 
aspect  of  affairs  in  Parliament,  however, 
together  with  the  impending  crisis  in  the 
political  world  and  his  sympathy  with  the 
Congregationalist  movement,  caused  him  to 
turn  his  thoughts  towards  emigration  ;  and 
on  the  twentieth  day  of  October,  1629,  the 
London  proprietors  of  the  Massachusetts 
Company  having  determined  to  transfer  the 
seat  of  government  to  the  New  World, 
John  Winthrop  was  elected  governor  of 
the  colony.  He  went  out  in  the  following 
year  with  eleven  ships  and  a  large  number 
of  emigrants,  arriving  at  Salem  in  the 
month  of  June.  Shortly  thereafter  he  re- 
moved to  Charlestown  ;  whence  in  the 
September  following  he  and  his  fellow- 
colonists  again  made  a  move — this  time  to 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  205 

the  site  now  occupied  by  Boston,  which 
they  founded.  During  twelve  of  the  nine- 
teen years  that  John  Winthrop  lived  in 
Massachusetts  he  was  governor  of  the 
colony,  and  in  his  way  did  as  much  as 
any  to  mould  the  character  of  the  people 
with  whose  destinies  he  had  cast  in  his  lot. 
He  was  a  man  of  pious  and  kindly  dis- 
position, frugal,  temperate,  and  industrious, 
and  from  the  love  that  his  fellow-colonists 
bore  him  he  got  the  name  (which  has 
ever  since  been  as  a  wreath  about  his 
brow)  of  the  Father  of  Massachusetts. 

At  Groton  (where  a  Winthrop  still  reigns) 
are  many  memorials  of  the  first  Governor's 
family  and  connections.  The  church  con- 
tains tablets  to  the  memory  of  John  Win- 
throp himself,  to  his  first  wife  Mary  Forth, 
and  to  his  second  wife  Thomasine  Clopton. 
Windows  in  the  nave  and  aisles  contain 


206   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

shields  bearing  the  arms  of  the  Forth  and 
Clopton  families  impaled  with  those  of  the 
Winthrops,  as  also  those  of  the  Winthrop 
and  Tyndale  families,  the  Governor  having 
taken  as  his  third  wife  a  daughter  of  Sir 
John  Tyndale.  The  tomb  of  the  second 
Adam  Winthrop,  in  the  churchyard,  also 
bears  the  chiselled  coat-of-arms  of  the 
family.  The  present  Hall  is  not  the  one 
in  which  Winthrop  lived  prior  to  his 
departure  for  the  Western  World. 

It  took  four  ships  to  convey  the  first 
Governor  and  his  companions  to  their  des- 
tination. The  names  of  some  of  those 
companions  cannot  be  read  without  a  feel- 
ing of  wonder  at  the  depth  of  feeling 
which  must  have  stirred  the  country  to 
induce  men  and  women  of  their  stamp  and 
eminence  to  leave  refined  and,  in  many 
cases,  comparatively  luxurious  homes,  in 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  207 

order  to  take  up  their  abode  in  what 
was  then  an  unreclaimed  wilderness,  with 
ferocious  savages  as  their  nearest  neigh- 
bours. Among  the  number  were  William 
Coddington,  already  named  as  a  subse- 
quent Governor  of  Rhode  Island;  Thomas 
Dudley  (for  many  years  Deputy-Governor 
of  Massachusetts  and  twice  its  Governor) ; 
Simon  Bradstreet  (also  afterwards  Governor 
of  Massachusetts)  and  his  wife  Anne  (n£e 
Dudley),  famed  in  her  day  as  a  poetess*; 
Lady  Arbella  Johnson  (daughter  of  the 
third  Earl  of  Lincoln),  and  her  husband, 
Isaac  Johnson,  a  native  of  Clipsham,  Rut- 
landshire (who  died  a  few  months  later, 
the  richest  man  in  the  colony) ;  the  Rev. 
George  Phillips  and  wife;  and  some  others 

*  In  one   of  her   poems,   relating   to   her   children, 
occur  the  lines : 

I  had  eight  birds  hatcht  in  one  nest — 
Four  cocks  there  were  and  hens  the  rest. 


208   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

less  known  to  fame  but  of  equal   standing 
and  education. 

We  might  go  on  to  speak  of  Sir  Henry 
Vane  and  John  Endicott,  one  a  member 
of  the  well-known  Vane  or  Fane  family  of 
Kent,  the  other  a  native  of  Dorchester, 
or  of  that  southern  part  of  the  country, 
both  of  whom  left  their  mark  on  the  new 
country,  though  Vane  was  only  a  few  years 
there,  destiny  then  calling  him  to  a  higher 
and  more  perilous  place  in  the  home  land. 
Endicott  went  out  in  1629,  at  the  head  of 
a  band  of  settlers  intent  on  forming  a  colony 
on  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Merrimack  River 
purchased  for  the  Plymouth  Company.  A 
man  of  education,  with  a  knowledge  of  affairs, 
and  some  acquaintance  with  things  military 
(in  which  capacity  he  was  a  leader  in  the 
war  against  the  Indians),  Endicott  was 
noted  for  his  piety  and  high  principle  :  noted 


A  LANCASHIRE  AND  A  SUFFOLK  HERO  209 

also  as  a  great  stickler  for  Puritan  manners 
and  methods.  In  this  respect  some  of  his 
actions  have  been  taken  exception  to,  but 
chiefly  his  having  pulled  down  a  Maypole 
erected  at  a  place  called  "  Merry  Mount," 
now  Quincy,  and  cut  the  cross  from  the 
English  flag.  Some,  however,  say  that  it 
was  not  the  cross  that  moved  his  ire  but 
the  flag  itself,  which  was  the  symbol  of  a 
tyrannous  government  that  had  driven  them 
all  into  exile.  And  as  a  proof  that  he  had 
nothing  against  the  Christian  emblem  they 
adduce  the  fact  that  he  wore  his  beard, 
Crusader-fashion,  in  the  form  of  a  cross. 
Something  of  Crusader  methods,  indeed, 
he  appears  to  have  shown  towards  the 
Quakers,  who — they  also  wishing  to  escape 
persecution  in  England — sought  a  home  in 
the  new  land,  but  were  repulsed  by  his 
"  sour  and  joyless  nature."  Both  Long- 
14 


210   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

fellow  and  Whittier  give  dark  pictures  of 
this  man's  Puritan  narrowness  and  cruelty. 
The  former  in  his  "  New  England  Tragedy 
of  Endicott "  makes  him  give  utterance  to 
the  words  : 

Four  already  have  been  slain, 
And  others  banished  upon  pain  of  death. 
But  they  come  back  again  to  meet  their  doom, 
Bringing  the  linen  for  their  winding  sheets. 


CHAPTER   X 

PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE 

XTOTHING,  we  imagine,  can  ever 
*•  ^  deaden  or  diminish  the  interest,  not 
only  of  Americans,  but  of  all  educated 
English-speaking  people,  in  that  part  of 
Buckinghamshire  so  intimately  associated 
with  William  Penn,  the  founder  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  since  his  time  popularly  known 
as  the  Penn  country.  There  was  a  Penn 
country,  however,  before  Penn ;  that  is,  before 
Penn  of  Sylvania,  if  we  may  so  speak  of 
him.  If  we  take  up  a  copy  of  the  Ordnance 
Map  we  see  on  the  west  border  of  the 
.county,  where  it  adjoins  Oxfordshire,  a  little 


212   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

cluster  of  houses  accompanied  by  a  church 
named  Penn.  This  is  the  village  of  Penn. 
It  is  situated  on  a  headland  or  "  pen  "  of  the 
Chiltern  Hills,  whence  the  name.  Around, 
its  little  church  looks  down  upon  beech 
woods,  formerly  extending  from  the  Thames 
to  the  borders  of  Oxfordshire,  but  now  broken 
by  stretches  of  arable  and  pasture,  the 
former,  as  the  eye  rests  upon  the  scene, 
gladdening  with  the  promise  of  the  yellowing 
corn.  Here  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century 
lived  Penns,  Hugh  de  Penn  in  1273  present- 
ing the  rectory  of  Penn  to  one  William  de 
London.  The  Penns  appear  to  have  been 
retainers  of  the  Berkeleys  or  in  some  way 
connected  with  them,  and  from  that  family 
they  acquired,  some  time  towards  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  manorial  rights 
of  Penn. 

The    Berkeleys    form   an    important   link 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  213 

too  between  the  Perms  of  Penn,  Bucks,  and 
the  Penns  of  Minety,  Wiltshire,  from  whom 
William  Penn  was  a  direct  descendant. 
Minety  is  on  the  Gloucestershire  border  ; 
it  was  indeed  formerly  in  part  a  parish  of 
that  county,  but  was  afterwards  incorporated 
by  Act  of  Parliament  with  Wilts.  There 
are  no  other  Penns  in  the  West  country 
except  those  of  Minety,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  the  first  Gloucestershire  Penn  went 
thither  in  the  following  of  a  Berkeley,  his 
feudal  superior,  who  had  his  castle  at 
Berkeley  on  the  Avon  near  its  junction 
with  the  Severn,  bearing  with  him  the 
coat  of  arms  of  the  Buckinghamshire  family. 
There  is,  however,  no  direct  evidence  of 
the  connection  ;  although  the  monument  to 
Admiral  Penn,  the  father  of  William,  in 
the  church  of  St.  Mary  Redcliffe,  Bristol, 
tells  us  that  he  was  the  son  of  Giles  Penn 


214  AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

of  the  Penns  of  Penn  Lodge,*  in  the 
county  of  Wilts,  and  the  "  Penns  of  Penn, 
in  the  county  of  Bucks,"  thus  showing 
that  there  was  at  least  a  family  tradition  of 
the  existence  of  such  connection. 

William  Penn  was  born  neither  in  Wilt- 
shire nor  in  Bucks,  but  on  Tower  Hill, 
in  a  court  adjoining  London  Wall  (1644). 
In  his  fifteenth  year  he  went  to  Christ- 
church,  Oxford,  but  was  expelled  from 
the  University  for  imbibing  Quaker  views.^ 
Thus  and  then  began  the  trouble  and 

*  Penn  Lodge  appears  to  have  been  in  Wiltshire; 
but  the  Penns  seem  to  have  had  property  and  also 
to  have  resided  in  Gloucestershire.  William  Penn's 
descent  from  the  original  Penn  of  Minety  is  shown  in 
the  annexed  table  : 

William  Penn,  of  Minety,  yeoman  (died  1591). 
William  Penn  =r  Margaret  Rastall. 
(Law-clerk)    | 
Giles  Penn  =r  Joan  Gilbert. 

William  Penn  (Admiral)  =r=  Margaret  Jasper. 
William  Penn. 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE   215 

turmoil  of  his  life.  They  need  not  be 
referred  to  here  except  in  so  far  as  they 
bear  upon  his  connection  with  Buckingham- 
shire. Persecuted  for  his  faith,  he  found 
in  this  part  of  the  country  staunch  friends 
who  stood  firmly  and  faithfully  by  him  all 
through  his  chequered  career.  At  Chalfont 
St.  Peter's,  "  at  their  house  called  the 
Grange,"  lived  Isaac  Pennington  and  his 
family.  Pennington  was  a  Quaker,  and  his 
house  was  always  open  to  those  who 
were  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Here 
Ellwood,  the  friend  of  Milton,  was  a  fre- 
quent visitor;  indeed  for  seven  years  he 
was  the  tutor  of  Pennington's  children. 
Pennington's  brother  William,  a  London 
merchant,  was  also  frequently  at  the  Grange, 
bringing  with  him  from  time  to  time  others 
who  held  the  same  religious  views  as  him- 
self and  his  brother,  possibly  persecuted 


216   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

ones  like  themselves.  Nor  is  it  at  all  im- 
probable that  William  Penn  owed  his  first 
personal  acquaintance  with  this  part  of  the 
country  to  some  such  chance  visit.  He 
became  known  to  Isaac  Pennington  in 
or  about  1668,  when  he  was  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  and  then  it  was  probably  that 
he  for  the  first  time  visited  the  village  of 
Penn,  but  five  or  six  miles  away,  walking 
by  woodland  paths  or  leafy  lanes  bordered 
by  hedges  of  sweet  wild  roses  and  trailing 
clematis.  The  sight  of  the  little  village 
with  its  plain  unobtrusive  church  of  flint 
and  brick,  and  its  old  manor-house  (now 
very  different  from  what  it  was  in  his  days) 
could  not  fail  to  stir  up  mingled  feelings 
in  a  breast  so  young  as  his  and  so  full 
of  deep  and  varied  emotions. 

In  the  church  (as  unpretentious  within  as 
without)     he    would    see    memorials    of    a 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  217 

number  of  Penns — ancestors  as  they  doubt- 
less were — who  had  fought  their  fight  and 
lived  their  lives  according  to  such  ideals 
as  they  had,  and  so  passed  into  the  void, 
leaving  their  little  mementoes  telling  who 
they  were  and  when  their  earthly  span  was 
run.  They  begin  with  the  names  of  John 
Penn  (d.  1597)  and  his  wife  Ursula,  and 
end  with  that  of  Roger,  who  died  unmarried 
in  1732,  the  estate  then  passing  through 
his  sister,  the  wife  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Curzon, 
to  another  family. 

In  the  year  that  has  been  mentioned  as 
the  one  wherein  he  became  acquainted  with 
Isaac  Pennington,  Penn  appeared  as  a 
preacher  and  an  author,  and  on  account  of 
an  essay  entitled  "  The  Sandy  Foundation 
Shaken,"  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower, 
where  he  remained  seven  months.  During 
this  time  he  wrote  his  most  celebrated 


218   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

work,  "  No  Cross,  no  Crown,"  as  well  as 
"  Innocency  with  her  Open  Face."  In 
1670  his  father  died,  leaving  him  his 
estates  and  all  his  property.  The  same 
year  the  meetings  of  Dissenters  were  for- 
bidden and  severe  penalties  prescribed  for 
infractions  of  the  law.  The  Quakers,  how- 
ever, continued  to  meet  as  usual,  and  Penn 
once  more  found  himself  in  prison,  passing 
six  months  in  Newgate  because  he  refused 
to  take  the  oath  at  his  trial.  While  in 
confinement  he  wrote  "  The  Great  Case  of 
Liberty  of  Conscience,"  and  other  pamphlets, 
thus  offsetting  the  curtailment  of  his  bodily 
liberties  by  the  greater  enfranchisement  of 
the  spirit. 

In  such  manner  did  the  comedy  of  en- 
deavouring to  make  Christians  according 
to  the  will  and  measure  of  the  bishops  (the 
comedy  so  often  played  in  England,  and 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  219 

so  often  turned  into  a  farce)  go  on  from 
year  to  year.  The  comedy  (though  it 
proved  tragic  enough  in  numbers  of  cases) 
appears  to  have  done  little  to  sadden  or 
break  the  spirit  of  young  Penn.  The  time 
not  spent  in  prison,  or  engaged  in  the 
work  of  preaching,  he  seems  at  this  period 
to  have  spent  with  his  friends  at  Chalfont 
St.  Peter,  where  from  the  first  an  attrac- 
tion as  great  as  that  of  religious  fellowship 
— the  presence  of  Gulielma  Springett,  the 
step-daughter  of  Isaac  Pennington,  whom 
Quaker  Ellwood  found  "completely  comely" 
— gave  a  touch  of  romance  to  a  course  of 
life  that  was  apt  to  be  prosy  enough  when 
not  harrowed  to  the  borders  of  tragedy  by 
persecution.  This  dainty  lady  was  so  re- 
served, and  yet  so  winsome  in  her  maiden 
freshness,  so  meek,  and  yet  so  lofty  in 
her  patrician  aloofness,  that  to  the  young 


220   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

men  who  visited  her  step-father's  house 
she  appeared  like  a  pure  white  lily  curtsy- 
ing to  the  uprising  sun.  To  none,  however, 
was  she  so  gracious  as  to  the  high-spirited 
and  greatly  daring  William  Penn,  "  half 
martyr  and  half  hero,"  as  he  has  been 
described,  "  mingling  the  single-mindedness 
of  the  apostle  with  the  practical  energy  of 
'  the  man  of  affairs." 

For  him  "  she  was  reserved,"  as  Ellwood 
puts  it,  and  in  the  spring  of  1672,  after  a 
time  of  wooing  that  had  embraced  many 
trials,  the  two  were  married  in  a  farmhouse 
called  King's,  near  Chorley  Wood,  on  the 
borders  of  Buckinghamshire  and  Hertford- 
shire, the  first  months  of  their  wedded  life 
being  spent  at  Basing  House,  Rickmans- 
worth,  in  the  latter  county.  The  little 
town  is  but  three  or  three  and  a  half  miles 
from  Chalfont,  and  busy  though  Penn  was 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE   221 

for  the  next  few  years — preaching  and  pro- 
selytising for  the  most  part — he  and  his* 
young  wife  often  found  their  way  through 
the  pretty  country  lanes  to  visit  their 
friends  at  Chalfont  and  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, possibly  now  and  again  to  witness 
the  earthly  remains  of  a  Friend  who  had 
gone  to  his  or  her  rest  being  laid  away  in 
the  little  cemetery  of  Jordans,  midway,  as 
it  were,  between  the  two  Chalfonts,  and 
but  recently  set  apart  for  its  sacred  purpose. 

Jordans  is  one  of  the  "  show  "  places,  if 
we  may  so  use  the  term,  of  the  Quakers. 
There  lie  some  of  their  most  honoured 
dead,  William  Penn,  Thomas  Ellwood,  Isaac 
Pennington,  Penn's  two  wives  (for  after  the 
death  of  Gulielma  he  married  again),  and 
several  of  his  children.  The  burying  ground, 
containing  but  a  rood  of  earth,  was  pur- 
chased and  consecrated  to  the  peace  of 


222   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

death  in  1671.  Some  years  later  (1688) 
additional  land  was  obtained,  and  an  un- 
pretending little  meeting-house  (with  care- 
taker's cottage)  erected.  It  is  a  lonely 
spot — almost  as  lonely  as  when  selected 
for  its  present  purpose  two  centuries  ago — 
situated  at  the  west  end  of  the  parish  of 
Chalfont  St.  Giles,  at  the  point  where  it  is 
joined  by  the  lane  from  Chalfont  St.  Peters, 
and  is  so  embowered  with  and  shaded  by 
stately  trees,  elms  and  beeches  chiefly, 
with  here  and  there  an  ash,  that  it  gives 
one  at  first  the  impression  of  a  lodge  in  a 
vast  wilderness.  You  may  chance  upon  it, 
let  your  wayfaring  be  in  the  spring-time, 
when  the  hedgerow  psalm  of  praise  is  in 
the  key  of  primrose  and  violet,  or  in  the 
autumn,  when  upon  the  beechen  woods 
has  fallen  the  dream  of  peace,  and  their 
glow  of  colour  is  a  promise  of  the  year  to 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  223 

come — you  may  chance  upon  the  spot  at 
such  a  time  when  hardly  a  sound  is  heard 
to  break  the  stillness  of  the  scene,  save 
the  twitter  and  call  of  birds,  or  the  sound 
of  a  distant  cart  travelling  the  rutty  lane. 
Or  you  may  (as  once  happened  to  the 
writer)  chance  to  time  your  visit  to  an 
early  Thursday  in  June  when  the  Friends 
of  the  district  are  holding  their  half-yearly 
meeting,  in  part  for  business,  in  part  for 
praise,  when  you  will  likely  enough  see 
well  on  to  a  dozen  vehicles,  from  open 
barouche  to  farmer's  dog-cart,  with  one  or 
two  perhaps  more  humble  still,  that  have 
brought  worshippers  from  far  and  near. 
On  the  occasion  in  question  a  dramatic 
touch  was  given  to  the  proceedings  by  a 
newspaper  report  that  was  handed  to  the 
chairman  just  as  the  meeting  was  about  to 
close  to  the  effect  that  in  far-away  Penn- 


324   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

sylvania  a  project  was  afoot  to  purchase 
the  remains  of  William  Penn  and  carry 
them  "  over  there."  Whereupon  with  a 
whimsical  smile  the  chairman  put  it  to  the 
assembly  whether  they  would  allow  such 
a  thing  to  take  place,  and  with  a  quiet 
shake  of  the  head  everybody  answered  "  No." 
There  lay  their  honoured  dead  (they  seemed 
to  say),  and  there  they  must  continue  to 
lie — English  dead  in  English  earth,  brooded 
over  by  the  peace  and  silence  of  the  beechen 
woods.*  For  that  is  the  key-note  of  the 
place,  if  we  may  so  put  it — silence,  peace, 
both  so  befitting  a  fellowship  whose  worship 
is  silence,  whose  watchword  is  peace,  and 
(may  we  not  add  ?)  whose  principle  of  life 
is  simplicity. 

*  American  visitors  to  Jordans  still  from  time  to  time 
give  expression  (one  hears)  to  the  desire  of  their  country- 
men to  have  Penn's  remains  transferred  to  the  States. 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE   225 

Nothing  simpler  could  mark  the  resting- 
place  of  one  who  fought  the  battle  Strenu- 
ous for  peace  and  good-will,  who  left  a 
name  and  an  influence  on  two  continents, 
and  whose  life-work  is  still  telling,  his  soul, 
as  in  the  words  of  the  song,  still  "  marching 
on."  There  is  no  ambitious  monument  with 
artistic  enrichment  or  lofty  blazonry,  simply 
a  head-line  with  his  name  and  the  date  of 
his  death.  His  two  wives,  Gulielma  and 
Hannah,  lie  by  his  side,  while  near  by  are 
the  graves  of  Thomas  Ell  wood  and  Isaac 
Pennington,  known  to  all  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  early  doings  and  sufferings  of  the 
Friends  as  two  of  the  staunchest  and  most 
noteworthy  of  the  followers  of  George  Fox. 
The  former,  in  his  autobiography,  tells  how 
in  1670,  after  the  passing  of  the  Conventicle 
Act,  a  couple  of  informers  made  a  plan  to 
watch  the  meeting  "  then  holden  at  the 
15 


226   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

house  of  William  Russell,  called  Jourdans, 
in  the  parish  of  Giles  Chalfont,  the  county 
of  Bucks."  The  house  here  indicated,  a 
small  farmhouse,  still  stands  in  good  repair 
on  the  hillside  above  the  meeting-house, 
with  its  accompanying  grave-yard,  now  no 
longer  used  for  interments.  Other  farms, 
though  not  visible  from  the  spot,  are  to 
be  found  within  a  short  distance,  but  the 
knowledge  of  their  existence  seems  to 
emphasise  rather  than  diminish  the  impres- 
sion of  solitude  that  attaches  to  the  place — 
a  place  dedicate,  as  we  feel,  to  one  of  the 
strongest  characters  and  most  inspiring  souls 
that  ever  sprang  from  English  stock. 

As  already  said,  the  meeting-house  was 
not  built  until  1688.  In  an  enclosure  ad- 
joining the  burial-ground,  it  is  a  plain  brick 
structure,  with  high-pitched  roof,  and  ap- 
pears as  well  preserved  to-day  as  when 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  227 

first  put  up  over  two  centuries  ago.  It  is 
now  partially  covered  with  creepers,  and 
from  the  lane  to  Chalfont  St.  Peters,  where 
is  the  entrance  gate,  has  a  pleasing  if  not 
very  picturesque  appearance.  The  door 
into  the  meeting-house  faces  the  grave- 
yard, and  is  overshadowed  by  a  beautiful 
hornbeam  tree. 

The  interior  is  quaintly  simple  in  its 
fittings  and  furniture,  being  panelled  with 
plain,  unvarnished  oak,  and  having  high- 
backed  benches  of  the  same  durable  material, 
made,  one  fancies,  to  remind  the  worshipper 
that  this  was  no  place  for  lolling  or  in- 
attention. At  one  end  is  a  raised  platform 
with  a  few  seats,  while  at  the  opposite  end, 
a  little  below  the  ceiling,  is  seen  a  row  of 
movable  panels,  behind  which  is  a  small 
"secret"  chamber.  This,  in  the  days  of 
informers  and  persecution,  was  used  by  the 


228   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

women  folk.  The  little  chamber  is  reached 
through  the  caretaker's  portion  of  the 
premises  (of  whose  manage  it  forms  an 
upper  room),  and  as,  when  the  panels  were 
closed,  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  the 
presence  of  listeners  behind  them,  the 
feminine  portion  of  the  congregation,  in  case 
of  disturbance  in  the  shape  of  informers  or 
others,  could  either  withdraw  unobserved 
or  lie  concealed  until  the  trouble  was  over. 
One  can  well  understand  that,  on  the 
merest  hint  that  intruders  were  about,  the 
sliding  panels  could  be  closed,  and  a  mouse- 
like stillness  observed. 

This  quaint  arrangement  to  protect  as  far 
as  might  be  the  female  portion  of  the 
congregation  from  possible  annoyance  or 
molestation  gives  a  touch  of  the  dramatic 
to  this  otherwise  very  drab  and  prosaic 
interior.  How  often  were  these  sliding 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  229 

panels  quietly  shut  in  this  way  on  the 
appearance  perhaps  of  some  strange  head 
in  the  place  ?  How  often  did  William  Penn, 
how  often  Gulielma  Springett,  witness  such 
intrusions  ?  That  plans  were  laid  by  in- 
formers in  order  to  further  persecution  we 
know,  but  the  demure  old  place  holds  its 
secrets  well,  saying  nothing  but  to  the 
imagination.  What  a  reflection  on  man's 
inconceivable  littleness  it  all  is,  and  at  the 
point  too  where,  if  anywhere,  he  should  at 
least  touch  greatness ! 

There  is,  however,  another  place,  besides 
those  already  mentioned,  with  which  Penn, 
in  his  later  years,  was  much  identified.  This 
was  Warminghurst  in  Sussex,  some  four 
miles  east  by  south  of  Pulborough,  and  about 
the  same  distance  as  the  crow  flies  to  the 
south-west  of  West  Grinstead,  beautifully 
situated  in  the  weald  of  England's  most 


230   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

south-easterly  county.  Warminghurst  was 
originally  attached  to  the  monastery  of  Sion, 
at  Isleworth,  Middlesex,  but  on  the  sup- 
pression of  the  religious  houses  it  passed 
by  grant  into  the  possession  of  Edward 
Shelley,  one  of  the  four  masters  of  the 
household  to  Henry  VIII.  (as  also  to 
Edward  and  Mary).  Subsequently,  after 
going  through  several  hands,  it  became  the 
property  of  Henry  Bigland,  from  whom 
Penn  is  said  to  have  purchased  it  in  1676. 
Another  account,  however,  states  that  it 
came  to  him  through  his  marriage  with 
Gulielma  Springett,  whose  early  home  had 
been  at  Ringmer  (some  twenty  miles  east 
of  Warminghurst),  where  her  father,  Sir 
William  Springett,  had  an  estate. 

Here  the  Penns  lived  for  some  years,  and 
in  a  style  consonant  with  their  fortunes.  In 
1702,  however,  the  place  was  sold  to  James 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  231 

Butler,  who  rebuilt  the  old  house  and  sur- 
rounded it  with  a  park.  A  century  later 
(1805)  the  estate  came  into  the  hands  of 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  pulled  down  the 
house  and  again  turned  the  park  into  farm- 
land. Hence  nothing  of  the  place  remains 
as  Penn  knew  it — save  one  thing,  a  small 
meeting-house,  built  by  him  at  Coolham,  not 
very  far  from  where  the  Manor  stood.  It  is 
constructed  in  the  old-fashioned  Sussex 
style  of  oak  beams  and  posts  filled  in  with 
brick,  the  timber  having  been  derived,  it  is 
said,  from  one  of  Penn's  ships,  and  bears 
the  odd  name  of  the  Blue  Idol.  One  of 
Penn's  children  lies  buried  in  the  little 
graveyard  attached  to  the  place,  which  is 
still  used  as  a  meeting-house. 

At  Warminghurst  the  beloved  Gulielma 
died,  and  nothing  was  ever  again  there. as 
it  had  been.  As  we  know,  her  remains  were 


232   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

taken  for  burial  under  shadow  of  the 
Buckinghamshire  beeches,  where,  as  from 
the  Sussex  turf,  at  the  first  vernal  yearnings, 
purple  and  saffron  crocuses  come  forth  with 
smiles,  saying  that  nothing  which  goes  down 
into  the  earth  is  dead. 

It  remains  but  to  say  that,  though  William 
Penn  was  buried  at  Jordans,  his  last  days 
were  spent,  not  amid  the  uplands  and 
"  bottoms "  of  Bucks,  but  at  Ruscombe,  a 
little  way  over  the  Berkshire  border,  where 
he  died,  after  some  years  of  failing  health, 
in  1718.  That  in  his  final  sleep  he  was 
pillowed  upon  Buckinghamshire  earth  no 
doubt  arose  from  a  wish  on  his  part  to  be 
buried  near  his  first  wife,  and  in  a  spot 
which,  from  the  time  when  he  found  his 
way  to  the  Chalfonts  and  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  Friends  there,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Gulielma  Springett,  must  have 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE   233 

been   a    place    of    very   pleasant   and   very 
sacred  memories. 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  Penn 
monuments  in  the  old  church  at  Penn.*  But 
there  is  one  memorial  there  which  was 
passed  over.  It  is  to  the  infant  grandchild 
of  William  Penn,  the  son  of  Thomas  Penn, 
of  Stoke  Park,  Stoke  Poges,  in  the  grounds 
of  which  is  still  to  be  seen  (or  was  until 
lately)  a  memorial  of  the  founder  of  Pennsyl- 
vania's treaty  with  the  Indians  in  the  shape 
of  a  portion  of  the  old  elm-tree  under  which 
that  famous  document  was  signed.  By  this 
little  memorial  the  two  branches  of  the  Penn 
family,  that  of  Gloucestershire  and  that  of 

*  It  is  on  record  that  Thomas  Penn  had  once  the 
opportunity  offered  him  of  purchasing  the  Penn  pro- 
perty in  the  old  Bucks  village,  and  he  decided  to  do  so, 
but  in  consequence  of  the  delay  occasioned  by  a  servant 
forgetting  to  post  a  letter  the  chance  was  lost,  and  the 
estate  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Curzon  family. 


254   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Bucks,  are  again,  as  it  were,  linked  together 
in  death,  and  the  glory  that  was  won  by  a  son 
of  the  younger  branch  sheds  its  lustre  at  once 
over  the  old  stock  and  the  parent  county, 
and  the  portion  of  which  Jordans  may  be 
called  the  centre  becomes  in  a  broader  and 
deeper  sense  the  Penn  country  par  excellence. 
It  is  curious  to  note,  while  speaking  of 
the  Penns  of  Stoke  Park,  that  it  was  John 
Penn  of  that  ilk,  the  grandson  of  William 
Penn,  who,  out  of  pure  admiration  for  the 
genius  of  the  poet  (whom  it  so  inappro- 
priately commemorates),  raised  the  very 
unsightly,  but  still  highly  interesting  monu- 
ment to  Gray  in  the  field  near  the  entrance 
to  the  churchyard  whose  "  rugged  elms " 
and  "  yew-tree's  shade,"  with  other  details 
of  its  mournful  suggestiveness,  made  so 
deep  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 
melancholy-haunted  man.  The  famed  church- 


PENN'S  HOMES  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  235 

yard  is  to-day  so  greatly  changed  from  what 
it  was  in  the  elegist's  time  that  one  can  only 
imagine  that,  could  he  revisit  the  scene,  he 
would  turn  away  with  something  of  dis- 
pleasure from  its  endless  array  of  tasteless 
and  toylike  mementoes  and  adornments, 
which  seem  as  though  they  would  not  leave 
nature  alone  to  do  as  she  liked  with  her 
own  and  heave  "  the  turf  in  many  a 
mouldering  heap,"  as  we  find  the  simple 
undesecrated  mounds  at  Jordans. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  Thomas 
Ellwood  and  his  friendship  with  Milton.  It 
was  while  the  poet  was  at  Chalfont  St.  Giles, 
in  the  "  pretty  box  "  which  at  his  request 
the  young  Quaker  had  taken  for  him,  that 
the  latter  suggested  the  writing  of  "  Paradise 
Regained  "  as  a  necessary  sequel  to  "  Para- 
dise Lost."  The  cottage  is  but  two  miles 
from  Jordans. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE 

"  I  "O  those  who,  sojourning  in  North 
•*•  Wales,  pay  a  visit  to  the  beautiful 
ruins  of  Valle  Crucis  Abbey,  it  is,  so  to 
speak,  but  a  few  steps  further  to  view  the 
house  and  the  church,  indeed  the  scene 
as  a  whole,  associated  with  the  family 
whose  most  notable  descendant  gave  his 
name  along  with  his  benefactions  to  the 
famous  Connecticut  University  which  has 
sprung  out  of  Yale  College.  To  be  parti- 
cular, Bryn  Eglwys,  in  which  parish  the 
manor-house  of  Plas  yn  Yale  is  situate, 
lies  about  four  miles  north-east  of  Llan- 

santffraid,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Dee. 
236 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE  237 

It  is  on  the  high  road  to  Wrexham,  and 
may  be  reached  either  from  Corwen  or 
Llangollen.  From  the  former  place  the 
way  is  the  more  direct.  To  drive  or  cycle 
from  the  latter  place  necessitates  a  longish 
detour,  though  there  are  paths  across  the 
hills,  via  Llantysilio  and  Bwlch  y  Garnedd, 
which,  inviting  to  the  sturdy  and  pedestrianly 
inclined,  open  up  some  delightful  views, 
and  thus  repay  a  hundred-fold  the  fatigue 
of  a  few  bits  of  rough  road  and  one  or  two 
stiffish  climbs.  The  way  lies  over  the 
Llantysilio  Mountain,  and  shows  an  ever- 
varying  scene  of  hill  and  vale,  woodland 
and  heath,  beautiful  to  behold  in  fine  weather, 
especially  towards  the  later  equinox,  when 
Nature  spreads  her  broad  palette  with 
purples,  and  the  rooks  throw  up  their  hearts 
if  not  their  caps  in  the  freshening  wind. 
The  climax  of  the  trudge  is  reached  when 


238   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Moel  y  Gamelin  is  seen  on  the  right  and 
Moel  y  Gaer  on  the  left,  with  Moel  Morfydd, 
the  giant  of  these  Llantysilio  heights,  further 
to  the  south-west. 

The  whole  district  is  a  little  out  of  the 
common  even  for  Denbighshire.  It  is 
placid  and  retired,  one  is  apt  to  think  it 
somewhat  forgotten  ;  yet  just  as  these  hills 
and  dales,  with  their  various  covering  of 
grass,  heath,  or  tree,  are  wrinkled  and  scarred 
by  the  hand  of  time  and  the  elements,  so 
one  cannot  dip  down  into  the  records  of 
human  life  without  finding  that  here  too 
the  ploughs  and  harrows  of  the  spirit  have 
been  at  work  and  have  left  their  indelible 
mark. 

The  old  manor-house  of  Plas  yn  Yale  (or 
lal,  as  it  is  written  in  Welsh)  lies  about  two 
miles  to  the  north-east  of  Bryn  Eglwys. 
It  is  an  unpretentious  dwelling,  of  moderate 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE  239 

proportions,  much  decayed  from  what  it 
formerly  was,  and  showing,  as  all  such 
buildings  do,  how  different  are  our  notions 
as  to  housing  from  what  they  were  when 
our  years  of  grace  were  written  in  sixteens 
and  seventeens  instead  of  eighteens  and 
nineteens.  Here  Yales  have  lived  for  many 
generations,  descendants  presumably  of  the 
family  of  the  same  name  who  held  the  old 
lordship  of  Yale-in-Powys,  which  included  a 
large  domain  in  these  parts.  That  they  were 
a  dominant  race  and  occupied  a  position  in 
the  district  equivalent  to  that  of  the  English 
squire  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  little 
church  of  Bryn  Eglwys  is  a  small  transept 
known  as  the  Yale  Chapel.  Here  generation 
upon  generation  of  Yales  acknowledged  the 
Ancient  of  Days  and  lifted  their  hearts 
and  voices  in  His  worship  and  praise. 
Elihu  Yale,  the  subject  of  this  notice, 


240  AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

was  born  in  or  near  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
April  5th,  1648.  He  was  the  second  son 
of  David  Yale,  a  member  of  the  old  Yale 
family  of  which  we  have  been  speaking, 
who  emigrated  with  his  step-father,  Theo- 
philus  Eaton,  to  Newhaven,  Connecticut, 
on  the  foundation  of  the  colony  there,  but 
afterwards  settled  in  Boston. 

This  David  Yale,  the  father  of  Elihu, 
was  the  son  of  Thomas  Yale,  gentleman, 
who  married  Ann  Lloyd,  daughter  of 
George  Lloyd,  Bishop  of  Chester,  but, 
dying  young,  his  widow  took  as  her  second 
husband  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq.,  of  London, 
merchant,  who  was  Governor  of  the  New- 
haven  colony  from  1639  until  1656. 

Thomas  Yale  was  the  son  of  David  Yale, 
vicar-general  of  the  Right  Rev.  George 
Lloyd,  Bishop  of  Chester,  and  died  either 
in  1625  or  1626;  and  David  Yale  was 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE  241 

the  son  of  Thomas  Yale,  LL.D.,  Chancellor 
to  Mathew  Parker,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. His  will,  which  was  proved  April  ist, 
1578,  leaves  to  his  son  David,  who  was 
co-executor  with  the  widow,  "  his  house  in 
Yale,"  that  is,  the  manor-house  of  Plas- 
yn-Yale. 

The  following  scheme  shows  the  pedigree* 
in  brief: 

Thos.  Yale  =p  Johane (?) 

David  Yale  =j=  Frances  Lloyd. 
Thos.  Yale  =p  Ann  Lloyd  =  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq. 


|  | 

David  Yale=pUrsula  —  (?)  Capt.  Thos.     Anne  Yale  =  Edward  Hop- 
d.  1690.     I                          Yale,    of  kins,      Esq., 
Newhaven  Gov.  of  Con- 
Colony,  necticut    Col. 

I and  founder  of 

|                             |                           |  the    Hopkins 

David  Yale,          Elihu  Yale,         Thos.  Yale,  School, 
b.  1645  ;                b.  1648  ;              d.  1697, 
d.  1690.                  d.  1721.               aged  37. 

*  Details    of    the    pedigree,    drawn    up    by   C.    H. 

Townshend,    of    Paynham,     Newhaven,  appeared    in 

the   "  New  England    Hist.  Genealogical  Register "  for 
January  1899. 
16 


242    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

David  Yale  returned  to  England  and 
settled  in  London  in  1652,  when  therefore 
his  son  Elihu  was  but  a  few  years  old. 
Of  the  education  of  the  latter  we  know 
nothing ;  but  when  twenty-two  years  of 
age  (about  1670)  he  went  out  to  India  in 
the  service  of  the  East  India  Company 
and  remained  there  until  1699,  filling  various 
subordinate  positions,  but  finally  (1687) 
rising  to  be  Governor  of  the  Company's 
settlement  at  Fort  St.  George,  Madras. 
Stories  are  on  record  of  his  high-handed 
doings  while  holding  this  post,  but  as  the 
worst  of  them  is  of  doubtful  authenticity, 
and  as  moreover  it  was  very  much  the 
custom  of  the  Company's  servants  to  act 
in  those  days  in  a  high  and  haughty  who- 
shall-question-me  manner,  too  much  perhaps 
need  not  be  made  of  such  dark  cross- 
hatchings. 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE   243 

In  the  year  1692  Yale  was  deprived  of 
the  governorship,  his  engaging  in  private 
trade  being  deemed  derogatory  to  one  in 
his  position.  But  for  this,  however,  he 
would  certainly  not  have  finally  retired  with 
the  considerable  fortune  he  did.  He  re- 
turned to  England  in  1699,  and  became  a 
governor  of  the  famous  old  Company,  the 
memory  and  romance  of  whose  doings  still 
hang  about  Leadenhall  Street  and  the 
thoroughfares  adjacent,  and  will  talk  to 
one  in  the  quiet  hours  of  the  great  and 
stirring  days  when  men  fought  with  a 
free  right  hand  for  themselves  and  with 
the  left  added  islands  and  continents  to 
the  inheritance  of  the  doted  old  mother  at 
home. 

There  was  undoubtedly  something  of  what 
we  call  the  "fine  old  style"  about  this  Welsh 
gentleman  with  the  high-handed  ways,  who 


244   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

quarrelled  with  the  Council  at  Madras  and 
with  the  governors  at  home,  who  united 
merchant,  adventurer,  and  official  under 
one  hat,  made  a  notable  fortune,  and  then 
scattered  it  with  a  wise  and  abundant 
liberality.  The  library  of  St.  Paul's  School 
contains  a  number  of  volumes  that  were 
a  gift  from  him,  and  the  fine  old  parish 
church  of  Wrexham,  the  largest  town  in 
the  county  of  his  forebears,  was  the  re- 
cipient of  many  benefactions  at  his  hands. 
Among  his  other  gifts  thereto  is  the  altar- 
piece  representing  the  institution  of  the 
Sacrament. 

It  may  have  been  the  repute  of  these  or 
other  beneficences  that  caused  Cotton 
Mather  to  invite  Elihu  Yale  to  help  the 
struggling  Collegiate  School  of  Connecticut, 
which  was  established  first  at  Saybrook  and 
afterwards  removed  to  Newhaven,  noted  as 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE   245 

being  the  home  of  the  famous  University 
which  sprang  from  that  precarious  beginning. 
Yale  sent  over  a  large  quantity  of  books, 
pictures,  and  other  effects,  the  sale  of  which 
realised  a  considerable  sum,  and  in  gratitude 
wherefor  the  trustees  bestowed  his  name 
upon  the  new  college.  Afterwards,  by  the 
charter  of  1745,  the  whole  institution  was 
named  Yale  University,  and  to-day  alumni 
and  all  connected  with  the  place  proudly 
point  to  the  full-length  portrait  of  Elihu 
Yale  by  Enoch  Zeeman  (the  gift  of 
Dudley  L.  North),  as  their  first  and 
greatest  benefactor. 

Yale  died  in  London  on  July  8th,  1721, 
and  was  buried  on  the  22nd  of  the  same 
month  in  the  churchyard  at  Wrexham,  where 
his  tomb  (west  of  the  tower),  with  its  curious 
epitaph,  is  still  to  be  seen.  The  latter  reads 
as  follows  : 


246    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

Born  in  America,  in  Europe  bred, 
In  Afric  travell'd,  and  in  Asia  wed  ; 
Where  long  he  lived  and  thrived, 

In  London  died. 

Much  good,  some  ill,  he  did,  so  hope  all's  even, 
And  that  his  soul  through  mercy's  gone  to  heaven. 
You  that  survive  and  read  this  tale,  take  care 
For  this  most  certain  exit  to  prepare, 
When,  blest  in  peace,  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust ! 

The  tomb  was  in  1870,  and  again  in 
1895,  restored  and  newly  inscribed  by  the 
Corporation  of  Yale  College,  "  in  grateful 
remembrance  of  his  timely  aid  in  money  and 
other  values."  Besides  this  monument  to 
Elihu  Yale  in  the  churchyard,  the  chancel 
of  St.  Giles  contains  tablets  to  members  of 
the  Yale  family,  which,  as  already  said,  was 
one  of  some  consideration  in  this  part  of 
Wales.  These  include  brasses  to  Elihu's 
father  (died  1690)  and  to  his  brother  David 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE  247 

(died  1693).  Not  far  from  Wrexham  was  a 
property  known  as  Plas  Grono,  which  came 
to  Elihu  from  his  brother  Thomas,  who 
inherited  it  from  his  eldest  brother  David, 
who  lies  buried  in  Wrexham  Church. 

Thomas  Yale  was  an  East  India  merchant, 
who  died  in  October,  1697,  leaving  his  estate 
"  to  the  heir  male  lawfully  begotten  of  my 
brother  Elihu  Yale,  and  to  be  annexed  to 
the  hereditary  estate  in  Denbighshire,  Wales, 
for  the  use  of  such  heir  for  ever,  and  in 
fault  of  such  heir  then  to  the  use  and  behoof 
of  the  heir  male  of  my  uncle  Thomas  Yale 
in  New  England,  and  his  right  heir  for 
ever." 

The  "  hereditary  estate "  to  which  the 
property  of  Thomas  Yale  was  to  be  annexed 
was  of  course  Plas-yn-Yale.  Plas  Grono 
may  have  been  an  acquisition  through  mar- 
riage. Elihu  Yale  resided  in  the  old  house 


248    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

after  his  return  to  England,  and  doubtless 
often  did  the  honours  there  of  the  shrievalty 
of  Denbighshire,  which  he  held  for  some 
time.  The  old  mansion  has  now  disap- 
peared, its  site  being  occupied  by  a  farm- 
house, though  the  old  enclosed  garden  still 
remains. 

As  regards  Yale's  being  "  wed  "  in  Asia, 
it  should  be  said  that  he  married  Catherine 
Hymners,  widow  of  his  predecessor  in  the 
governorship  of  Fort  St.  George,  by  whom 
he  had  one  son  and  three  daughters.  The 
son,  David  Yale,  died  in  Madras.  His 
eldest  daughter,  Ursula,  never  married. 
Anne,  the  second,  married  Lord  James 
Cavendish,  and  the  youngest,  Katherine, 
Dudley  North,  Esq.,  whose  great-grandson, 
the  last  descendant  of  Elihu  Yale,  was 
Dudley  Long,  who  took  the  name  of  North 
and  died  in  1829.  He  it  was  who  (in  1789) 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE   249 

presented  to  Yale  College  the  portrait  of 
his  great-grandfather,  by  Zeeman,  a  Dutch 
artist  resident  in  England,  by  whom  the 
one-time  governor  of  Fort  St.  George  was 
painted  in  1717. 

It  is  not  a  far  cry  from  Plas-yn-Yale 
to  the  charming  village  of  Gresford,  on 
the  Alun,  a  tributary  of  the  Dee,  three 
miles  north  of  Wrexham,  and  a  well-known 
resort  of  anglers.  As  such  it  was  known 
to  Washington  Irving,  who,  though  no 
disciple,  was  a  warm  lover  of  Izaak  Walton 
in  his  literary  and  philosophical  aspect, 
and  who,  though  he  did  not  care  to  fish, 
had  a  keen  appreciation  of  such  streams  as 
the  Alun  and  the  sylvan  beauty  amid  which 
they  meander.  Hence  his  stay  at  Gresford, 
what  time  he  was  making  those  quiet 
studies  of  his  for  the  "  Sketch  Book," 


250   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

and  in  especial  for  that  delightful  picture 
of  rural  and  contemplative  life,  "  The 
Angler."  The  way  in  which  he  depicts 
the  scene  shows  how  fully  he  enjoyed  it. 
"The  country  around"  (he  says)  "was  of 
that  pastoral  kind  which  Walton  is  fond 
of  describing.  It  was  a  part  of  the  great 
plain  of  Cheshire,  close  by  the  beautiful 
vale  of  Gresford,*  and  just  where  the 
inferior  Welsh  hills  begin  to  swell  up  from 
among  the  fresh- smelling  meadows.  The 
day,  too,  like  that  recorded  in  his  book, 
was  mild  and  sunshiny,  with  now  and 
then  a  soft-dropping  shower  that  sowed 
the  whole  earth  with  diamonds."  Who 
that  has  sojourned  in  Wales  but  knows 
that  diamond-strewn  weather? 

"  It  is  delightful  "  (he  continues) "  to  saunter 

*  In    the    "Sketch    Book"    it   is    generally  written 
"Gessford,"  but  this  is  a  mistake. 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  YALE  COLLEGE  251 

along  those  limpid  streams  which  wander, 
like  veins  of  silver,  through  the  bosom  of 
this  beautiful  country ;  leading  one  through 
a  diversity  of  small  home  scenery  ;  some- 
times winding  through  ornamental  grounds  ; 
sometimes  brimming  along  through  rich 
pasturage,  whose  fresh  green  is  mingled 
with  sweet-smelling  flowers ;  sometimes 
venturing  in  sight  of  villages  and  hamlets, 
and  then  running  capriciously  away  into 
shady  retirement.  The  sweetness  and 
serenity  of  nature,  and  the  quiet  watchful- 
ness of  the  sport,  gradually  bring  on 
pleasant  fits  of  musing,  which  are  now 
and  then  agreeably  interrupted  by  the  song 
of  a  bird,  the  distant  whistle  of  a  peasant, 
or  perhaps  the  vagary  of  some  fish,  leap- 
ing out  of  the  still  water  and  skimming 
transiently  above  its  glossy  surface." 

Such  is  the  introduction   to   "a  morning 


252   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

stroll  along  the  banks  of  the  Alun  "  which 
leads  to  the  "counterfeit  presentment"  of 
that  almost  unique  figure  the  angler,  "an 
old  fellow  with  a  wooden  leg,  with  clothes 
very  worn  but  very  carefully  patched,  be- 
tokening poverty,  honestly  come  by  and 
decently  maintained,"  whose  "face  bore 
the  marks  of  former  storms,  but  present 
fair  weather."  A  delightful  story,  which 
any  one  loving  the  quiet  hills  and  pastoral 
scenes  and  what  they  tend  to  produce  in 
our  human  kind,  may  turn  to  and  peruse 
for  the  twentieth  time  with  ever-fresh 
enjoyment. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    FOUNDER    OF    HARVARD    COLLEGE 

T  T  is  not  a  little  singular  to  relate  that 
•*-  America's  two  foremost  teaching  in- 
stitutions were  founded  and  largely  endowed 
by  Englishmen,  John  Harvard  and  Elihu 
Yale,  the  former  a  native  of  Southwark, 
the  latter  the  son  of  a  Welsh  mother  who 
emigrated  with  her  second  husband  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century. 

John  Harvard  was  the  son  of  a  butcher 
of  Southwark,  Robert  Harvard  by  name, 
who  lived  and  carried  on  his  business  in 
the  middle  of  the  present  High  Street,  near 
the  ancient  collegiate  and  priory  church  of 
St.  Saviour  (St.  Mary  Overy),  now  the 

Cathedral  of  Southwark.     Canon  Thompson, 
253 


254   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

in  his  history  of  the  church,  states  that 
the  house  was  directly  east  of  the  Lady 
Chapel,  and  adds  that  the  old  "  Token 
Books  "  still  in  existence  indicate  its  number 
and  location  in  the  ancient  maps.  These 
tokens,  a  record  of  which  was  kept  in  the 
said  books,  were  small  circular  pieces  of 
lead,  having  some  characteristic  device, 
which  were  distributed  by  the  churchwardens 
to  parishioners  above  the  age  of  fifteen  or 
sixteen  as  summons  to  attend  Holy  Com- 
munion. They  were  given  up  to  the 
officers  of  the  church  when  the  rite  had 
been  duly  honoured,  and  when  the  fact 
had  been  registered  went  back  in  due 
course  each  to  its  allotted  parishioner,  so 
that  none  might  shirk  their  religious  duty 
without  being  found  out.  It  was  a  queer 
system,  and  no  doubt  had  its  weight  in 
causing  the  revulsion  that  in  the  coming 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  255 

time  was  to  send  so  many  like  the  Harvards 
and  others  over  the  water  to  freer  views 
and  larger  ways. 

The  Harvards  seem  to  have  been  a 
respectable  and  thrifty  family  long  and 
honourably  connected  with  the  borough  of 
Southwark,  although,  in  accordance  with 
the  faulty  custom  of  spelling  of  that  day, 
the  name  appears  indifferently  as  Harvye, 
Harverd,  Harvard,  and  even  Harwood,  not 
only  in  the  vestry  books  of  the  time,  but 
in  wills  and  other  legal  documents.  It  was 
this  divers  spelling  of  the  name  which  stood 
for  some  time  in  the  way  of  a  satisfactory 
elucidation  of  the  origin  and  pedigree  of 
the  founder  of  Harvard  University.  But 
the  difficulty  was  in  the  long  run  overcome 
by  the  patience  and  skill  of  Mr.  Henry  F. 
Waters,  whose  admirable  genealogical  in- 
vestigations into  the  Harvard  as  into  the 


256   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Washington  pedigree  are  a  model  of  scien- 
tific research.  Through  the  most  crabbed 
and  intricate  legal  documents  and  entries 
in  parish  and  other  registers  of  the  most 
puzzling  description,  he  traces  with  most 
convincing  certitude  the  origin,  birth,  and 
career  of  the  subject  of  his  inquiries.  For 
instance,  a  son  of  Robert  Harvard  by  his 
first  wife  is  entered  in  the  baptismal  register 
of  St.  Saviour's  as  Robert  Harverd,  and 
the  same  in  the  register  of  burials  as 
Robert  Hervey,  while  the  mother  of  the 
child  is  buried  as  Barbara  Harwood.  And 
John's  father  appears  in  the  church  burial 
register  as  "  Mr.  Robert  Harvey,  a  man, 
in  the  church  "  (August  24th,  1625). 

To  the  late  Dr.  Rendle,  the  author  of 
"  Old  Southwark,"  is  due  the  credit  of  being 
the  first  to  point  out  the  possible  connection 
of  John  Harvard  with  the  parish  of  St. 


FORD- ON- A  VON 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  257 

Saviour's,  Southwark,  of  which  his  father 
was  a  vestryman,  although  he  did  little 
more  than  set  afloat  a  likely  and  alluring 
conjecture.  The  conjecture,  however,  was 
soon  made  a  certainty,  so  that  we  are 
now  made  fully  cognisant  of  the  position 
and  pedigree  of  the  family.  Robert,  the 
"  botcher,"  as  we  find  him  described,  went 
in  1605  to  Stratford-on-Avon,  and  there, 
from  her  father's  house  in  the  High  Street, 
married  Katharine  Rogers,  his  second  wife. 
Her  father,  Thomas  Rogers,  was  an  alder- 
man of  Stratford.  The  house  which  he 
built  for  himself  in  his  prosperity  is  still  in 
existence  and  in  good  preservation,  "  one 
of  the  oldest  and  certainly  the  best  remaining 
example  of  ancient  domestic  architecture  in 
Stratford."  The  front  is  richly  adorned 
with  carvings,  and  has  projecting  windows 
resting  upon  corbels,  some  of  which  show 
17 


258    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

quaintly  sculptured  heads.  Beneath  the 
broad  window  of  the  second  story  appear 
the  characters  : 

T  R         1596         A  R 

In  this  house  Katharine  Rogers  lived  from 
the  above  date  until  her  marriage  to 
Robert  Harvard  in  1605,  when  the  scene 
of  her  life  was  changed  to  the  Southwark 
High  Street,  where,  in  1607,  her  son  John 
was  born,  being  baptized  at  St.  Saviour's 
on  November  29th  in  that  year. 

Here  in  all  probability  the  boy  continued 
to  live,  attending,  no  doubt,  the  Blue  Coat 
or  some  other  neighbouring  school  until, 
in  consequence  of  the  plague  of  1625  (which 
made  sad  ravages  in  the  family),  his  mother 
quitted  the  old  house  in  Southwark,  and  is 
found  soon  after  living  near  Tower  Hill 
with  a  new  husband. 

To  this  new  house  John  Harvard  migrated 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  259 

with   his  mother,  and  from  thence  in    1627 
he  went  to   Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge. 


PART  OF   MEDIEVAL   SOUTHWARK. 


The    entry    in     the    college    register    is    as 
follows  : 

"John   Harverd    Midlsex :    Decemb.    19, 
1627 — o.   10.  o." 


260   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

which  is  the  acknowledgment  of  his  fee 
of  IQS.  for  admission.  The  "Middlesex" 
for  some  time  baffled  and  bothered  Mr. 
Waters,  the  genealogical  pathfinder,  until 
he  made  the  discovery  of  the  re-marriage 
of  Mrs.  Harvard  and  her  removal  to  a  new 
parish  and  a  new  county.  Subsequently  the 
good  woman,  having  lost  her  second  husband, 
returns  to  Southwark,  weds  Richard  Year- 
wood,  intimate  and  friend  of  her  first 
husband,  Robert  Harvard,  and  spends  the 
remainder  of  her  days  in  a  house  within  a 
few  doors  of  the  old  home  in  High  Street. 
Her  son  John  was  at  this  time  at  Cam- 
bridge. Here  he  remained,  no  doubt  a 
diligent  student,  for  eight  years,  taking  his 
B.A.  degree  in  1631,  and  his  M.A.  in  1635. 
The  same  year  his  mother,  who  survives 
her  third  spouse,  makes  her  will,  as 
Katharine  Yarwood,  in  favour  of  John  and 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  261 

Thomas  Harvard,  sons  of  her  first  husband, 
and  her  only  remaining  children.  In  this 
covenant  she  describes  the  first-named  as 
"my  eldest  son  John  Harvard,  clarke" 
(i.e.  scholar). 

Two  years  later,  by  which  time  he  had 
married  Ann,  the  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
John  Sadler,  a  Sussex  clergyman,  the 
scholar,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  took  leave 
of  the  old  home  and  went  to  live  in  New 
England,  barely  twenty  years,  that  is,  after 
the  first  Pilgrims  had  set  up  their  first 
tabernacle  in  the  wilderness  there,  and  was 
appointed  minister  to  the  first  church  in 
Charlestown. 

In  the  year  previous  to  that  of  his  arrival 
the  New  England  colonists  had  started  a 
project  for  the  establishment  of  a  college 
for  the  education  of  English  and  Indian 
youth  in  "  knowledge  and  godliness."  No 


262   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

sooner  did  Harvard  hear  of  this  scheme  than 
it  called  forth  his  warmest  sympathy,  a 
sympathy,  too,  that  was  of  so  practical  a 
nature  that  he  bequeathed  to  it  half  his 
fortune,  amounting  to  nearly  ,£800,  a  much 
larger  sum  in  his  day  than  it  appears  to 
us.  In  addition  thereto  he  gave  his  library, 
consisting  of  320  volumes.  Such  a  gift 
practically  set  the  project  on  its  feet. 
Newtown  was  chosen  as  the  site  of  the 
institution,  but  in  recognition  of  Harvard's 
beneficence  it  was  resolved  to  change  the 
name  of  the  place  to  Cambridge,  as  a  tribute 
of  respect  to  the  University  which  had 
nurtured  so  worthy  a  son,  and  to  call  their 
humble  seminary,  after  the  name  of  its  chief 
founder,  "  Harvard  College."  Whether 
Harvard  lived  to  see  the  school  opened 
we  do  not  know,  as  in  the  year  following 
that  of  his  arrival  he  died  of  consumption, 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  263 

leaving  no  posterity,  and,  strange  to  say, 
the  place  of  his  burial  is  unknown. 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  founder  of 
America's  premier  institution  of  learning, 
but,  like  many  another  exemplifying  a  similar 
spirit,  it  has  a  sequel.  For  upwards  of  two 
centuries  nothing  was  known  as  to  Harvard's 
ancestry  or  place  of  birth.  Then,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  discovery  of  his  connection 
with  Southwark  was  made,  and  not  only 
with  Southwark,  but  with  what  is  now  the 
cathedral  church  of  the  diocese,  and  Mr. 
Henry  F.  Waters,  to  whom  is  due  the 
credit  of  unravelling  the  tangled  skein  of 
evidence  and  proof,  wrote  after  one  of  his 
visits  to  St.  Saviour's  : 

"  As  I  passed  through  this  venerable 
edifice  I  noticed  that  the  great  window  of 
the  south  transept  was  of  plain  glass,  as 
if  Providence  had  designed  that  some  day 


264    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

the  sons  of  Harvard  should  place  there  a 
worthy  memorial  of  one  who  is  so  well 
entitled  to  their  veneration." 

The  challenge  was  not  taken  up  until 
the  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  at  the  time 
American  Ambassador  to  England,  himself 
a  graduate  of  Harvard,  on  looking  over  the 
church,  with  its  wonderful  array  of  monu- 
ments and  memorials  to  great  and  noteworthy 
men,  was  seized  with  the  desire  to  add  one 
more  to  the  number  in  the  shape  of  a 
memorial  window,  as  suggested  by  Mr. 
Waters,  to  the  venerated  founder  of  the 
American  Cambridge.  Naturally  the  offer 
was  gratefully  accepted  by  the  rector,  and 
in  due  course  a  beautiful  stained-glass 
window,  the  work  of  Mr.  J.  La  Farge 
of  New  York,  was  placed  in  situ  at  the 
east  end  (west  side)  of  the  Chapel  of 
St.  John  the  Divine,  later,  as  we  shall  see, 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  265 

to    be    known    as    the    Harvard    Memorial 
Chapel. 

The  main  subject  of  the  window  depicts 
the  baptism  of  Christ  (in  allusion  of  course 
to  the  christening  of  John  Harvard  in  the 
church).  This  scene  occupies  the  lower 
central  panel,  and  has  two  angels  in  attend- 
ance, one  on  either  hand.  A  panel  of  old 
stained  glass,  a  remnant  from  a  former 
painted  window,  occupies  the  middle  centre, 
and  is  flanked  on  each  side  respectively 
by  the  arms  of  Harvard  University  and 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  the  former 
on  the  right,  the  latter  on  the  left.  The 
whole  makes  a  very  striking  contrast  to 
the  other  stained-glass  windows  in  the 
church,  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  the  lead- 
ing follows  the  folds  of  the  drapery  and 
the  shaded  lines  of  the  figures,  thus 
doing  away  with  the  breaking  up  of  the 


266   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

picture    into    a    multiplicity    of    rectangular 
spaces. 

This  noble  memorial  was  formally  unveiled 
by  Mr.  Choate  just  before  his  departure 
from  England  in  May,  1905,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Bishop 
of  Rochester  (Bishop-Elect  of  the  diocese), 
Canon  Thompson  (the  rector),  Dr.  Butler, 
Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  the 
Rev.  A.  T.  Chapman,  of  Emmanuel  College, 
and  others.  After  drawing  aside  the 
American  flag  which  covered  the  window, 
Mr.  Choate  said  it  was  nearly  three  centuries 
since  John  Harvard,  whose  father  lived 
close  to  the  end  of  London  Bridge,  was 
baptized  in  that  venerable  church.  Educated 
in  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  spent  eight  years,  during  at  least  four 
of  which  Milton  was  at  Christ's,  he  and 
Milton  must  have  received  substantially  the 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  267 

same  nurture  and  discipline,  and  must  often 
have  been  thrown  together.  At  any  rate, 
he  imbibed  something  of  the  same  spirit 
as  Milton,  for  his  contemporaries  spoke  of 
him  as  a  scholar  and  pious  in  his  life.  Seek- 
ing larger  freedom  of  thought  than  could 
be  found  in  the  freedom  of  that  day,  he 
made  his  way  to  Massachusetts,  and  there, 
within  two  years  of  his  arrival,  he  died 
prematurely,  as  it  then  seemed,  but  in  the 
fulness  and  perfection  of  time  as  was  now 
manifest ;  for,  finding  the  infant  colony 
struggling  for  means  to  establish  a  college 
in  the  wilderness,  in  the  first  decade  of  their 
settlement,  he  bequeathed  to  its  foundation 
his  library  and  half  his  considerable  fortune, 
and,  what  was  better  still,  his  name,  which 
has  now  become  so  illustrious. 

The  colonial  record  (Mr.  Choate  continued) 
was  quaint  and  touching :  "  After  God  had 


268    AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

carried  us  saf$  to  New  England  and  we 
had  builded  our  home,  provided  necessaries 
for  our  livelihood,  reared  convenient  places 
for  God's  worship,  and  settled  the  civic 
government,  one  of  the  next  things  we 
longed  for  and  looked  after  was  to  advance 
learning  and  perpetuate  it  to  posterity, 
dreading  to  leave  an  illiterate  ministry  to 
our  churches  when  our  present  ministers 
shall  lie  in  the  dust.  And  as  we  were 
thinking  and  consulting  how  to  effect  this 
great  work,  it  pleased  God  to  stir  up  the 
heart  of  one  Mr.  Harvard  (a  godly  gentler 
man  and  lover  of  learning  then  living 
among  us)  to  give  the  one  half  of  his  estate 
(it  being  in  all  about  ,£1,900)  towards  the 
erecting  of  a  college,  and  all  his  library. 
After  him  another  gave  ^300,  others  after 
him  sent  in  more,  and  the  public  hand  of 
the  State  added  the  rest.  The  college 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  269 

was  by  public  consent  appointed  to  be 
at  Cambridge,  a  place  very  pleasant  and 
accommodate,  and  called  according  to 
the  name  of  the  first  founder  Harvard 
College." 

Speaking  of  the  arms  adopted  by  the 
college  (possibly  suggested  by  Harvard), 
Mr.  Choate  said:  "It  assumed  in  its  coat 
of  arms,  as  you  will  see  in  the  window,  a 
double  motto,  Veritas,  truth — a  word  broad 
enough  to  embrace  all  knowledge,  human 
and  divine — and,  what  meant  the  same 
thing,  Christo  et  Ecclesw,  for  Christ  and 
his  Church,  that  the  supply  of  godly 
ministers  might  never  fail.  And  now,  after 
the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  the  little  college 
in  the  pathless  wilderness  has  become  a 
great  and  splendid  university,  strong  in 
prestige  and  renown,  rich  in  endowments, 
and  richer  still  in  the  pious  loyalty  of  its 


270    AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

sons,  who  supply  all  its  wants  upon  demand 
with  liberal  hand.  It  is  not  unworthy  to 
be  compared  with  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
those  ancient  nurseries  of  learning  from 
which  it  drew  its  first  life.  And  the  name 
of  John  Harvard  shares  the  fame  which 
mankind  accords  to  the  founders  of  states. 
And  if  you  ask  if  she  is  still  true  to  her 
ancient  watchword  Veritas  and  Christo  et 
Ecclesia,  I  can  answer  that,  in  our  time, 
in  a  single  quarter  of  a  century,  she  has 
sent  forth  Phillips  Brooks  to  be  a  pillar 
of  Christ  and  the  Church,  and  Theodore 
Roosevelt  to  be  a  champion  of  the  truth, 
and  a  thousand  more  who,  in  humble 
spheres,  follow  in  their  footsteps  and  share 
their  faith  and  their  hope.  Thus  the  name 
of  John  Harvard,  unknown  and  of  little 
account  when  he  left  England,  has  been 
a  benediction  to  the  New  World,  and  his 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  271 

timely  and   generous  act    has  borne  fruit  a 
millionfold." 

It  is  a  striking  confirmation  of  Mr.  Choate's 
eulogy  of  the  sons  of  Harvard  that  they 
should  so  soon  have  followed  up  his  noble 
gift  by  generously  providing  the  means  for 
restoring  the  ancient  Chapel  of  St.  John 
the  Divine,  and  thus  making  it,  as  it  is 
henceforth  to  be  called,  a  Harvard  Memorial 
Chapel.  The  work  of  restoration  was  com- 
pleted within  two  years  of  the  unveiling  of 
the  memorial  window,  and  in  time  to  be 
dedicated,  in  a  sense,  as  a  tercentennial 
offering  to  the  spirit  of  him  who  was 
baptized  here  on  almost  the  last  day  of 
November,  1607 — a  spirit  larger  than  the 
church  (in  his  day)  wherein  he  was  brought 
up,  and  which  has  manifested  itself  in  so 
many  splendid  efforts  in  the  land  in  which 
he  elected  to  end  his  earthly  course. 


272   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   EN7GLAND 

Mr.  Choate,  in  laying  his  wreath  upon 
the  Harvard  shrine,  expressed  the  hope  that 
it  would  long  remain  for  Americans  a  place 
of  pilgrimage  to  remind  them  "  where  one 
of  their  proudest  institutions  had  its  origin  "  ; 
and  if  we  may  judge  from  the  number  of 
"  Pilgrim "  names  that  crowd  the  visitors' 
book,  his  desire  bids  fair  to  be  abundantly 
gratified.  Those  who  do  thus  visit  the 
old  fane,  some  parts  of  which  date  back 
four  or  five  hundred  years  before  Harvard 
was  christened  there,  will  find  a  great  many 
other  objects  and  memorials  to  awaken  their 
interest  and  call  forth  their  admiration, 
because  they  tend  to  show  how  inseparable 
are  English  and  Americans  "  in  history  and 
destiny."  It  may  be  that  the  tomb  of  the 
great  and  learned  Bishop  Andrews  will  not 
stand  for  much  to  all  who  enter  the  sacred 
precincts,  but  none  can  fail  to  be  interested 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  273 

in  his  monument,  and  especially  in  the  effigy 
of  him  moulded  by  the  Dutch  sculptor 
Janssen,  the  same  who  fashioned  the  Strat- 
ford bust  of  Shakespeare  (as  any  one  who 
sees  the  two  will  readily  detect).  But  even 
more  than  this,  at  least  to  those  who  have 
become  imbued  with  a  deep  sense  of  the 
noble  heritage  we  all  enjoy  in  the  literature 
which  our  forefathers  have  handed  down 
to  us,  will  be  the  interest  awakened  by 
the  simple  names  of  Edmund  Shakespeare 
(brother  of  the  poet),  John  Fletcher,  and 
Philip  Massinger,  all  of  whom  were  buried 
in  St.  Saviour's.  On  the  two  latter  Sir 
Aston  Cockayne  (1608 — 1684)  wrote  the 
epitaph  : 

In  the  same  grave  was  Fletcher  buried,  here 
Lies  the  stage  poet,  Philip  Massinger  ; 
Plays  they  did  write  together,  were  good  friends, 
And  now  the  grave  includes  them  in  their  ends. 
18 


274   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

The  epitaph,  however,  does  not  appear 
upon  their  graves,  nothing  indeed  but  their 
names ;  the  same  is  true  as  regards  Edmund 
Shakespeare,  whose  name  is  shown  in  the 
ancient  church  register,  followed  by  the 
words  "  a  player."  Little  is  known  of  him 
beyond  the  fact  that  he  came  to  Southwark 
to  try  his  fortune  as  an  actor,  and  died  in 
his  twenty-seventh  year.  He  is  but  one  of 
many  actors  who  were  associated  with  the 
old  church,  in  death  if  not  in  life.  The  close 
proximity  of  Bankside  and  the  "Globe" 
Theatre,  as  well  as  the  "  Rose "  and  the 
"  Mope,"  will  account  for  the  fact.  The 
church  books  contain  many  references  to 
players  and  their  families,  especially  as 
regards  baptisms  and  burials.  It  would 
probably  be  hard  to  find  another  church 
having  so  many  links  with  literature  and 
the  stage,  certainly  in  England.  Among 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  275 

the  most  notable  of  the  players  thus  con- 
nected with  the  place  was  Edward  Alleyn 
(1566 — 1626),  who  lived  for  a  time  a  little 
west  of  the  cathedral  ("  hard  by  the  clynke 
by  the  bank  side,  neere  Wynchester-house  "), 
and  was  churchwarden  of  St.  Saviour's  in 
1610.  To  him  Dulwich  owes  the  magnificent 
foundation  of  the  "  College  of  God's  Gift," 
an  institution  that  has  been  a  blessing  to 
thousands  of  boys.  Fuller  (in  his  "Worthies") 
says  of  him :  "  Thus  he,  who  out-acted 
others  in  his  life,  out-did  himself  before 
his  death."  And  the  authorities  of  the 
church  which  he  attended  have,  out  of 
regard  for  the  honour  he  did  alike  to  him- 
self and  the  parish  in  which  he  lived,  erected 
a  pictured  window  in  his  honour — one  of 
five  that  have  been  devoted  to  the  per- 
petual memory  of  distinguished  parishioners, 
the  other  four  being  Shakespeare,  Massinger, 


276    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

Fletcher,  and  Beaumont,  the  last  two  inti- 
mate friends  and  close  collaborators  in  their 
plays,  occupying  the  same  rooms  in  the 
parish,  having  (as  we  are  told  by  Aubrey) 
"  the  same  cloathes  and  cloake  betweene 
them,"  and  being : 

In  fame  as  well  as  writings,  both  so  knit, 
That  no  man  knows  where  to  divide  your  wit. 

Two  other  men,  notable  in  their  day  as 
being  connected  with  the  theatrical  pro- 
fession, likewise  found  fitting  rest  in  the 
church.  These  are  Richard  Benefield,  whose 
memorial,  with  its  quaint  and  somewhat 
fulsome  Latin  epitaph,  may  be  seen  in  the 
south  transept  ;  and  Philip  Henslowe,  a 
vestryman  and  churchwarden,  whose  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  "  Channcell  "  (January 
loth,  1615).  Henslowe  was  a  noted  thea- 
trical manager,  and  did  a  good  deal  in  the 
way  of  buying  plays  and  interludes,  likewise 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  277 

patronising  and  assisting  dramatists.  His 
stepdaughter  became  the  wife  of  Edward 
Alleyn. 

He  had  as  neighbour  in  the  chancel  the 
renowned  Sir  Edward  Dyer,*  poet,  and 
the  intimate  friend  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
whose  tomb  is  in  the  chancel.  Gower,  one 
of  the  fountain-heads  of  English  poetry, 
and  Chaucer's  "master,"  already  has  a 
sufficient  memorial.  Here  he  too  lies  buried, 
his  tomb  being  in  the  north  aisle  of  the 
nave.  It  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  work  in 
the  Perpendicular  style,  and  consists  of  a 
canopy  of  three  arches,  with  cinquefoil 
tracery,  supported  on  either  side  by  angular 
buttresses,  surmounted  by  carved  pinnacles. 
His  effigy  shows  him  with  his  hands  put 

*  Who  does  not  remember  his  delightful  poem  on 
"  Contentment "  beginning — 

My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is? 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  279 

together  and  raised  in  prayer ;  round  his 
brow  is  a  chaplet  of  roses,  and  at  his  feet 
a  lion  couchant.  Altogether  it  is  one  of 
the  most  notable  monuments  to  a  man  of 
his  calling  of  the  period  in  which  he  lived, 
and  is  one  of  the  gems  of  old  St.  Mary 
Overy.  It  is  quite  in  keeping  too  with 
the  place  that  there  should  be  a  memorial 
(unveiled  in  October  1900)  to  Geoffrey 
Chaucer,  who  must  have  known  the  church 
as  well  as  he  knew  the  near-lying  "Tabard," 
whence  he  sent  his  Pilgrims  on  that  im- 
mortal journey  of  theirs  to  Canterbury, 
which  all  the  cultured  of  English  speech 
have  read  with  such  unfeigned  delight. 

Another  memorial  which  will  have  excep- 
tional interest  to  Americans  is  that  to  one 
William  Emerson  in  the  south  transept.  It 
shows  a  strangely  emaciated  effigy  with  the 
inscription  : 


280   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Here  under  lyeth  the  body  of  William  Emerson, 
who  lived  and  died  an  honest  man.  He  departed 
out  of  this  life  the  2yth  of  June,  Anno  1575,  in 
the  year  of  his  age  92. — VT  SVM  SIC  ERIS. 

This  William  had  a  grandson,  Thomas 
Emerson,  who  left  substantial  benefactions 
(1620)  to  the  poor  of  the  parish,  which  are 
still  the  occasion  of  blessings  being  bestowed 
upon  his  long-passed  spirit.  It  is  con- 
jectured by  some  that  the  late  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson,  of  Concord,  Massachusetts,  may 
have  been  a  descendant  of  this  worthy 
South wark  family.  It  may  be  that  he  was. 
According  to  the  records,  Emerson's  first 
ancestor  in  New  England  was  one  Thomas 
Emerson,  of  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  baker 
and  farmer,  known  to  have  been  of  that 
township  as  early  as  1638.  This  worthy 
was  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  a  younger 
branch  of  the  family  of  Ralph  Emerson,  of 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  281 

Durham,  who  in  1535  was  ennobled  by 
Henry  VIII.,  and  received  by  grant  the 
heraldic  arms  which  have  been  used  since 
-  1640  by  the  descendants  of  Thomas  Emerson, 
of  Ipswich. 

This  Thomas  had  two  sons,  both  of 
whom  became  ministers,  and  after  them  the 
ministerial  profession  ran  almost  continuously 
in  the  family  down  to  Ralph  Waldo's  time, 
when  preaching  had  run  in  the  blood  for 
nearly  one  hundred  years. 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  traced  his  descent 
from  the  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson,  of  Meudon, 
who  married  at  Concord  (1665)  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Bulkley,  D.D., 
who  was  rector  of  the  little  parish  of  Odell, 
or  Woodhill,  in  Bedfordshire,  from  1588  to 
1620,  and  who,  by  reason  of  Laud's  per- 
secutions, was  compelled  to  take  refuge  in 
Massachusetts,  where  he  settled  first  at 


282   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Cambridge    (1634)    and    then    at    Concord, 
dying  at  the  latter  place  in   1659. 

Much  has  been  made  of  Shakespeare's 
connection  with  the  parish  ;  and  it  has  been 
surmised  that  John  Harvard  may,  as  a  boy, 
have  heard  the  voice  and  been  dandled 
upon  the  knee  of  "  sweetest  Shakespeare, 
Fancy's  child,"  who,  as  we  know,  did  not 
retire  from  the  stage  until  1613,  when  the 
Globe  Theatre  (so  near  the  Southwark 
butcher's  home  and  place  of  business)  was 
burnt  down,  and  was  back  again  in  the 
following  year,  when  it  was  rebuilt.  Though 
this  is  not  improbable,  seeing  that  Robert 
Harvard  must  have  known  Alleyn,  Hens- 
lowe,  and  Benefield,  who,  like  himself,  were 
vestrymen,  and  doubtless  intimately  well 
acquainted  with  the  poet,  yet  it  is  very 
easy  to  make  too  much  of  possibilities  like 
these.  A  more  probable  speculation  is  that 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  283 

John  Harvard's  mother,  being  a  native  of 
Stratford-on-Avon,  and  having  in  her  girl- 
hood days  been  a  near  neighbour  of  Thomas 
Quiney,  who  married  the  dramatist's  daughter 
Judith,  may  have  known  and  been  known 
to  his  family.  Nor  is  it  at  all  unlikely  that 
the  acquaintance  continued  after  her  removal 
to  London,  to  a  house  so  near  the  centre 
around  which  his  life  and  activities  had,  as 
it  were,  revolved  during  some  of  the  busiest 
and  most  important  years  of  his  life.  All 
this  is  possible,  we  might  even  say  more 
than  probable  ;  for  neighbourliness  in  those 
days  was  a  warmer  quality,  and  a  more 
potent  begetter  of  kindliness  and  friendship, 
than  in  these  later  times  of  chilly  stand- 
offishness  and  reserve.  But  still  we  do  not 
know.  What  we  do  know — or,  at  least, 
seem  to  feel — is  that  after  John  Harvard 
had  seen  his  name  inscribed  on  the  register 


284   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

of  Emmanuel  College,  everything  changed 
to  him,  his  mind  gradually  finding  its  way 
into  a  world  altogether  different  from  that 
in  which  his  childhood  and  youth  had  been 
brought  up,  redolent  of  the  stage  and  of 
the  seamy  side  of  things  of  which  the 
stage,  then  as  now,  in  spite  of  the  splendours 
and  glories  that  hovered  about  it,  was  so 
largely  made  up.  Nothing  can  be  more 
certain  than  that,  otherwise  there  would  have 
been  no  going  away  with  a  young  wife  to 
that  wilderness  across  the  sea,  where  he  so 
soon  ended  his  brief  though  beneficent  career, 
leaving  "  footsteps  on  the  sands  of  time " 
that  only  the  decay  of  a  civilisation  can 
wholly  obliterate. 

To  those  knowing  their  Stratford-on-Avon, 
as  our  American  friends  generally  do,  there 
are  other  shrines  in  which  the  pilgrim  will 


THE  FOUNDER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE  285 

be  specially  interested  besides  the  Harvard 
House.  Not  to  mention  the  Memorial 
Fountain,  presented  to  the  town  by  Mr. 
George  W.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
dedicated  to  public  use  by  Sir  Henry  Irving 
in  1887,  there  is  the  beautiful  window  in  the 
south  transept  of  "  Shakespeare's  Church," 
another  gift  from  America,  unveiled  by 
the  Hon.  T.  F.  Bayard,  United  States 
Ambassador,  on  the  poet's  birthday  in  1896. 
The  sentimental  traveller,  too,  will  want  to 
see  the  inn  "  parlour  " — delightful  old  word  ! 
— associated  with  the  visit  of  Washington 
Irving  to  Stratford.  The  inn  is  the  "  Red 
Horse  "  in  the  Market  Place,  and  the  room 
with  memories  of  the  genial  essayist  is  the 
front  room  to  the  left  on  entering  the  gate- 
way of  the  old  hostel.  "  To  a  homeless 
man,"  writes  the  much-travelled  man,  "  who 
has  no  spot  in  this  wide  world  which  he  can 


286   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

truly  call  his  own,  there  is  a  feeling  of  some- 
thing like  independence  and  territorial 
consequence,  when,  after  a  weary  day's 
travel,  he  kicks  off  his  boots,  thrusts  his 
feet  into  his  slippers,  and  stretches  himself 
before  an  inn  fire.  Let  the  world  without 
go  as  it  may  ;  let  kingdoms  rise  or  fall, 
so  long  as  he  has  the  wherewithal  to  pay 
his  bill,  he  is,  for  the  time  being,  the  very 
monarch  of  all  he  surveys.  The  armchair 
is  his  throne,  the  poker  his  sceptre,  and  the 
inn  parlour,  some  twelve  feet  square,  his 
undisputed  empire." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

OTHER      MEMORIALS      AND       SHRINES      IN      AND 
NEAR    LONDON 

T  ON  DON  has  a  number  of  memorials 
•* — '  specially  interesting  to  American 
pilgrims,  as  well  as  to  Englishmen,  besides 
that  enshrined  in  the  cathedral  church  of 
Southwark.  Westminster  Abbey  contains, 
too,  a  bust  in  affectionate  memory  of  the 
poet  Longfellow,  whose  simple  thoughts  and 
homely  verse  won  for  themselves  a  niche 
in  thousands  of  English  hearts  long  ere  the 
thought  arose  to  honour  him  with  a  place 
by  the  side  of  our  own  most  admired  singers. 

The  well-known  face  fronts  one  on  approach- 

287 


288   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

ing  Poet's  Corner  from  the  nave.  Beneath 
it  is  the  inscription  :  "  This  bust  was  placed 
amongst  the  memorials  of  poets  of  England 
by  English  admirers."  He  is  well  at  home 
in  the  high  company  he  there  keeps  ;  and 
amid  the  throng  of  those  who,  reposing 
thus  after  their  tides  have  run  out,  one  could 
imagine  some  of  them  turning  in  their  sleep 
with  a  smile  and  a  sigh  as  they  hear  those 
fine  lines  of  his,  murmured  perchance  in 
reminiscence  by  some  one  as  he  passes  by  : 

I  remember  the  black  wharves  and  the  slips, 

And  the  sea-tides  tossing  free  ; 
And  the  Spanish  sailors  with  bearded  lips, 
And  the  beauty  and  mystery  of  the  ships, 
And  the  magic  of  the  sea. 

His  compatriot  poet,  James  Russell  Lowell, 
one-time  American  Minister  to  the  Court  of 
St.  James  (1880-85) — he  too  finds  an  equally 
honoured  place  in  our  English  Valhalla, 


SHRINES   IN   AND   NEAR   LONDON   289 

accorded  him  because,  though  American  to 
the  core,  he  was  a  friend  to  international 
friendship,  a  lover  of  amity  and  the  common 
literature  that  carries  within  it  the  seeds 


ENTRANCE  TO  CHAPTER  HOUSE 


of  a  comity,  of  individuals  as  well  as  of 
nations,  which  transcends  all  dynasties  and 
policies,  and  will  make  the  world  one  and 
great  when  humanity  will. 

Lowell's    memorial    takes    the   form    of  a 
19 


290   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

coloured  window  and  tablet  in  the  vestibule 
to  the  old  Chapter  House.  The  inscription 
says  :  "  This  tablet  and  the  window  above 
were  placed  here  in  memory  of  William 
Russell  Lowell  when  United  States  Minister 
to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  from  1880  to 
1885  by  his  English  friends."  Beneath 
the  inscription  is  the  word  "  Veritas,"  which 
ever  appeared  to  those  who  knew  him 
best  to  stamp  Lowell's  highest  wish  and 
aim.  The  thought  in  all  its  breadth  and 
fulness  is  enshrined  in  the  lines  : 


Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to 

decide, 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  and  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or 

evil  side  ; 
Some  great    cause,    God's  new   Messiah,  offering  each 

the  bloom  or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats  upon    the    left    hand,    and  the   sheep 

upon  the  right, 
And   the   choice   goes  by  for  ever  'twixt  that  darkness 

and  that  light. 


SHRINES  IN  AND   NEAR  LONDON  291 

Lowell  was  a  worthy  descendant  of  his 
Puritan  forefathers,  and  showed  the  ingrained 
devotion  to  liberty  of  his  race  by  his  earnest 
endeavours  in  the  cause  of  negro  emanci- 
pation, which  find  expression  in  the 
nineteenth-century  panel  of  the  memorial 
stained-glass,  a  natural  sequence  to  that 
of  the  seventeenth,  which  we  may  take  to 
symbolise  the  sturdy  Nonconformity  of 
his  Bristolian  ancestors. 

For  the  Rev.  Charles  Lowell,  James 
Russell's  father,  was  the  seventh  in  descent 
from  Percival  Lowell,  a  well-to-do  Bristol 
merchant,  who,  with  his  children  and  grand- 
children, left  England  in  1639  and  settled 
in  Newbury,  Mussachusetts.  The  poet's 
mother  was  Harriet  Spence,  daughter  of 
Mary  Traill,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
Robert  Traill,  of  Orkney.  This  Traill 
family  is  the  same  as  that  of  which  Minna 


292   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Troil   of  Scott's    novel    "  The   Pirate "  was 
a  member. 

The  Lowells  of  Bristol,  it  is  interesting 
to  note,  came  originally  from  Broadway,  in 
Worcestershire,  a  typical  Cotswold  village, 
six  miles  south-east  of  Evesham,  present- 
ing substantial  Tudor  and  Jacobean  houses 
well  worthy  of  the  praise  that  has  been 
bestowed  upon  them.  Among  the  most 
notable  is  the  Lygon  Arms,  situated  at 
the  lower  end  of  the  village.  It  is 
built  of  the  grey  stone  of  the  district, 
and  with  its  pointed  gables,  mullioned 
windows,  and  fine  carved  doorway,  tells  an 
interesting  story  of  the  taste  of  its  age 
and  founders.  Nor  does  the  inside  belie 
the  exterior.  There  are  many  corridors, 
leading  by  stout  oaken  doors  to  roomier 
apartments,  some  finely  panelled,  others 
having  moulded  ceilings  and  carved  stone 


SHRINES  IN  AND   NEAR   LONDON  293 

fireplaces.  A  feature  of  the  interior  is 
the  wide  oak  staircase  with  deep-set  window 
on  the  first  landing.  The  house  has  tradi- 
tions of  both  Charles  I.  and  Cromwell,  the 
first-named  having,  it  is  said,  stayed  in 
the  house  several  times,  while  one  of  the 
oak-panelled  rooms  is  still  called  after  his 
enemy  the  Protector. 

Further  up  the  village  is  seen  Tudor 
House,  also  of  grey  stone,  with  ball-sur- 
mounted gable-ends  and  bay-windows  ; 
enriched  too  with  finely  carved  heraldic 
shields.  Equally  noteworthy  is  the  house 
of  Mr.  F.  D.  Millet,  the  well-known 
American  artist,  who  has  acquired  the 
place  and  taken  up  his  abode  there.  It 
was  formerly  the  manor-house  of  the 
Abbot  of  Pershore,  and  has  portions  dating 
back  to  the  time  of  Edward  III.  A  quaint 
and  deeply  interesting  structure,  full  of 


294   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

old-time  "  notions,"  if  one  may  so  name 
them,  calculated  to  carry  the  mind  back 
to  an  age  when  life  was  less  complex 
than  it  is  to-day,  and  yet,  and  for 
that  very  reason  perhaps,  more  wonderful 
and  picturesque.  The  place,  with  its  asso- 
ciations with  historic  Evesham  and  its 
interesting  Bell  Tower,  as  well  as  with 
Pershore  Abbey,  is  one  specially  beloved 
of  Americans. 

But  to  return  to  the  Abbey  of  West- 
minster, there  is  another  modest  memorial 
there  which  the  cultured  American  will 
not  willingly  pass  by.  It  is  to  a  scholar 
and  antiquary  whose  name  and  labours 
have  been  more  than  once  quoted  in  the 
foregoing  pages,  and  may  be  found  in  the 
south  aisle  beneath  the  mural  monument 
to  Isaac  Watts.  On  a  simple  tablet  is 
the  inscription  : 


SHRINES   IN   AND   NEAR  LONDON   295 

COLONEL  JOSEPH   LEMUEL   CHESTER, 

LL.D.    OF   CAMBRIDGE    COLLEGE,    NEW   YORK    CITY, 

ALSO    D.C.L.    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF    OXFORD, 

BORN    30TH    APRIL,    182 1,    AT   NORWICH, 

CONNECTICUT,    U.S.A., 

DIED    25™    MAY,    1882,    IN    LONDON, 

WHERE    HE    HAD    RESIDED    FOR    MANY    YEARS. 

THE   LEARNED   EDITOR   OF 

"  THE    WESTMINSTER    ABBEY    REGISTER," 

IN    GRATEFUL    MEMORY   OF   THE    DISTINGUISHED 

LABOUR    OF   AN    AMERICAN    MASTER 
OF    ENGLISH    GENEALOGICAL   LEARNING, 

THIS   TABLET    WAS    ERECTED 
BY   THE   DEAN    AND    CHAPTER    OF    WESTMINSTER. 


Nor  should  one  forget,  while  speaking 
of  Westminster  Abbey,  that  Richard  Hak- 
luyt,  whose  book,  preserving  all  that  was 
memorable  in  the  early  voyages  to  America, 
did  so  much  to  make  the  country  known — 
that  he,  too,  has  his  memorial  here.  He 
lies  buried  in  Poet's  Corner.  He  was  a 
Westminster  boy,  became  Prebendary  of 
St.  Augustine's,  Bristol,  whence  the  Cabots, 


296    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  Gosnolds,  and  so  many  others  sailed 
to  the  Western  World  in  those  days ;  and 
on  his  death  was  held  worthy  of  a  place 
with  England's  best  and  noblest.  Some, 
too,  may  deem  the  monument  to  that  un- 
happy victim  of  a  fratricidal  war,  Major 
Andre,  worthy  of  a  passing  thought  and 
a  sigh. 

Under  the  shadow  of  the  Abbey  stands 
St.  Margaret's  Church,  with  which  is  asso- 
ciated another  name  dear  to  Americans 
(as  to  Englishmen),  although  he  never  set 
foot  on  any  part  of  the  northern  half  of 
the  Western  Continent.  For  here,  in  the 
chancel,  were  buried  the  remains  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  (or  Ralegh),  and  here  a 
memorial  window  to  him  was  placed  by 
American  citizens  in  1882,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion by  James  Russell  Lowell.  It  is  as 
follows : 


SHRINES   IN  AND  NEAR  LONDON  297 

The  New  World's  sons  from  England's  breast  we  drew 
Such  milk  as  bids  remember  whence  we  came ; 

Proud  of  her  Past,  from  which  her  Present  grew ; 
This  window  we  inscribe  with  Raleigh's  name. 


Fitly  was  the  memorial  with  its  inscription 
so  placed  ;  for,  as  has  been  well  observed, 
it  was  due  to  Raleigh's  initiative  that  the 
first  attempts  were  made  "to  found  a  neV 
and  greater  England  beyond  the  seas." 
Great  was  the  time  and  much  the  money 
he  spent  in  his  various  efforts  to  found 
a  colony  in  Virginia — abortive,  we  must 
think,  in  the  main,  because  he  was  not 
allowed  to  conduct  them  in  person,  so  well 
did  the  Virgin  Queen  like  to  have  his 
fine  figure  and  handsome  face  about  her 
Court. 

Needless  here  to  recount  his  story.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  romantic  of  those  stirring 
and  romantic  days ;  one  of  the  most  unfor- 


298   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

tunate  too,  ringing,  as  it  does,  the  changes 
between  Court  favourite  under  Elizabeth 
and  prison  and  the  block  under  James. 
And  yet  what  does  it  matter  ?  Full  enough 
was  his  life  between  the  days  when,  as  a 
boy,  he  roamed  and  played  on  the  banks 
of  the  Otter,  or  talked  with  the  sailormen 
oh  the  beach  at  Budleigh  Salterton,  Devon, 
imbibing  from  their  lips  the  secret  and 
mystery  of  the  sea,  and  the  day  when, 
largely  through  the  itch  and  impulse  thus 
communicated  to  his  blood,  never  to  be 
eradicated,  he  was  brought  to  the  axe  in 
Palace  Yard,  confident  that  it  did  not  signify 
in  what  direction  his  head  was  turned  so 
long  as  his  heart  was  right.  First  seeing 
the  light  at  Hays,  or  Hays  Barton,  close 
to  East  Budleigh,  on  the  Otter,  and  within 
sound  and  almost  within  sight  of  the  sea  at 
Budleigh  Salterton  (one  and  a  half  miles 


SHRINES   IN  AND  NEAR  LONDON   299 

south  by  west  of  Exmouth),  Raleigh  may 
be  said,  like  so  many  famous  Devonians,  to 
have  been  born  with  the  salt  water  in  his 
heart.  His  father,  originally  of  Fardell, 
near  Plymouth,  rented  an  estate  at  Hays 
about  1550,  a  year  or  two  before  Sir 
Walter's  birth,  and  there  his  splendid  youth 
was  spent.  In  later  years,  when  at  the 
top  of  his  luck,  Sherborne  Castle  was  one 
of  his  places  of  abode  ;  but  we  may  be 
sure  that  he  was  never  so  happy  anywhere 
as  on  the  banks  of  the  Otter,  unless  it 
were  when — the  maker  of  his  fortunes  being 
dead,  and  a  raw  Stuart  in  the  place  of  the 
generous  Tudor — he  could,  as  he  lay  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  Bloody  Tower,  on 
Tower  Hill,  calmly  review  the  backward 
scene  and,  putting  it  against  the  forward, 
accept  with  pleased  content  the  happy 
requital.  Anyway,  there  with  his  wife  and 


300    AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

son   he  spent  many  a  peaceful  day  ere  th-. 
tragic  end  came. 

About  midway  between  Westminster 
Abbey  and  the  cathedral  church  of  South- 
wark,  leading  up  from  the  river  to  the 
Strand  by  Trafalgar  Square,  is  Craven 
Street,  where  may  be  seen,  on  the  left 
hand  going  up,  the  house  in  which  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  lived  during  his  second 
visit  to  London.  A  commemorative  tablet, 
let  into  the  wall  by  the  Society  of  Arts, 
notifies  the  fact  as  one  that  posterit 
should  not  forget.  Here  it  was  that  Lo 
Chatham  called  upon  him  in  1758  with  . 
view  to  getting  his  views  upon  the  all- 
important  subjects  that  were  beginning  to 
cause  trouble  between  the  Colonies  and 
the  Mother  Country.  From  hence  it  was, 
too,  that  the  famous  man  wrote  (in  1760)  a 
peculiarly  interesting  letter  to  Lord  Kames 


SHRINES   IN   AND   NEAR   LONDON  301 

Dative  to  the  portrait  of  William  Penn, 
which  his  lordship  had  offered  him.  "Were 
it  certainly  his  portrait,"  he  wrote,  "it 
would  be  too  valuable  a  curiosity  for  me 
to  think  of  accepting  it.  I  should  only 
desire  the  favour  of  leave  to  take  a  copy 
of  it.  I  could  wish  to  know  the  history  of 
the  picture  before  it  came  into  your  hands, 
and  the  grounds  of  supposing  it  his.  I 
have  at  present  grave  doubt  about  it ;  first, 
because  the  primitive  Quakers  declared 

gainst  pictures  as  a  vain  expense  ;  a 
jin's  suffering  his  portrait  to  be  taken 

:as  conceived  as  pride;  and  I  think  to 
this  day  it  is  very  little  practised  among 
them.  Then  it  is  on  a  board  ;  and  I 
imagine  the  practice  of  painting  on  boards 
did  not  come  down  so  low  as  Penn's  time  ; 
but  of  this  I  am  not  certain.  My  other 
reason  is  an  anecdote  I  have  heard  viz. 


302   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

that  when  old  Lord  Cobham  was  adorning 
his  gardens  at  Stowe  with  busts  of  famous 
men,  he  made  inquiry  of  the  family  for  a 
picture  of  William  Penn,  in  order  to  get  a 
bust  formed  from  it,  but  could  find  none ; 
that  Sylvanus  Bevan,  the  old  Quaker 
apothecary — remarkable  for  the  notice  he 
takes  of  countenances,  and  a  knack  he  has 
of  cutting  in  ivory  strong  likenesses  of  per- 
sons he  has  once  seen — hearing  of  Lord 
Cobham's  desire,  set  himself  to  recollect 
Penn's  face,  with  which  he  had  been  well 
acquainted,  and  cut  a  little  bust  of  him  in 
ivory,  which  he  sent  to  Lord  Cobham,  with- 
out any  letter  or  notice  that  it  was  Penn's. 
But  my  lord,  who  had  personally  known 
Penn,  on  seeing  it,  immediately  cried  out, 
'Whence  comes  this?  It  is  William  Penn 
himself!'  And  from  the  little  bust,  they  say, 
the  larger  one  in  the  gardens  was  found." 


SHRINES   IN   AND  NEAR   LONDON  303 

It  would  be  interesting  to  learn  what  has 
become  of  this  bust  of  Penn.  On  the  death 
of  Lord  Cobham  in  1 749,  Stowe,  one  of 
the  most  princely  houses  in  Buckinghamshire, 
passed  into  the  family  of  the  Grenvilles. 
Later,  when  in  the  possession  of  Richard, 
the  first  Duke  of  Buckingham,  Louis  XVIII. 
and  Charles  X.  of  France,  and  their  suites, 
were  entertained  there  during  their  enforced 
residence  in  England.  In  1845  Queen 
Victoria  and  the  Prince-Consort  were  re- 
ceived, and  feasted  there  at  enormous  cost. 
Three  years  later,  as  the  result  of  these 
extravagances,  Stowe  was  dismantled  of  its 
sumptuous  contents,  and  these,  put  up  for 
auction,  realised,  in  a  sale  that  occupied 
forty  days,  over  .£75,000.  It  has  been  well 
said  that,  of  the  many  instances  of  fallen 
fortune  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  families, 
none  presents  a  sadder  fate  than  that  of 


304   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

Stowe  and  its  owners.  It  is  as  though,  as 
in  all  such  cases,  Nemesis  lifted  the  minatory 
finger  and  bit  into  the  pia  mater  its  tardy 
after-thought:  "Ambition,  vanity,  folly! 
Contentment  is  best." 

There  is  another  shrine  in  the  London 
area  that  should  be  interesting  to  Americans. 
It  is  the  house  in  Church  Street,  Stoke 
Newington,  wherein  the  Rev.  John  Bransby 
kept  the  school  at  which  Edgar  Allan  Poe, 
the  poet,  spent  two  important  years  of  his 
youth.  Born  at  Baltimore,  U.S.A.,  in  1811, 
Poe  was  at  an  early  age  adopted  by  a 
Mr.  Allan,  a  man  of  wealth  who  had  no 
children  of  his  own.  At  the  age  of  nine 
he  was  placed  with  Mr.  Bransby,  and  re- 
mained under  his  charge  until  he  was  eleven, 
two  years  in  all,  and  not  five,  as  he  himself 
states.  Poe  describes  the  house,  which  is 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  street,  near 


SHRINES   IN   AND  NEAR  LONDON  305 

that  once  occupied  by  Isaac  D'Israeli,  the 
author  of  "  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  in  his 
"  partly  biographical  "  story  of  "  William 
Wilson  " ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
much  of  the  romantic  element  later  to  be 
developed  in  his  writings  was  due  to  his 
having  lived,  at  so  impressionable  an  age, 
in  a  house  and  neighbourhood  abounding 
in  so  many  varied  and  interesting  associa- 
tions. Daniel  Defoe,  Thomas  Day  (of 
"  Sandford  and  Merton  "  fame),  and  John 
Howard,  with  many  others  less  known  to 
popular  fame,  were  all  at  one  time  residents 
in  or  near  Church  Street.  "  One  of  the 
first  houses  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
way,"  says  "  Old  and  New  London,"  "  was 
the  house  of  Isaac  D'Israeli,  before  he 
settled  in  Bloomsbury  Square,  and  the  white 
house  near  it  was  the  scene  of  the  school 
days  of  the  eccentric  and  gifted  poet." 
20 


306   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

While  speaking  of  the  various  places  in 
and  about  London  that  are  of  interest  to 
Americans,  it  would  be  unpardonable  not 
to  mention  one  "  shrine  "  to  which  in  times 
to  come  many  pilgrim  feet  will  wander, 
because  it  is  associated  with  one  of  their 
country's  greatest  living  men  at  a  specially 
interesting  point  in  his  career.  St.  George's, 
Hanover  Square,  is  noted  as  having  been 
the  scene  of  many  a  notable  wedding  and 
not  a  few  romantic  ones.  But  it  will  pro- 
bably be  a  long  time  before  another  predes- 
tinate American  President  takes  his  bride 
there  to  have  the  nuptial  knot  tied,  as  did 
Mr.  Roosevelt  on  December  2nd,  1896.  In 
the  marriage  register  the  bridegroom  is 
described  as  "  Theodore  Roosevelt,  twenty- 
eight,  widower,  ranchman,"  and  the  bride  as 
"  Edith  Kermit  Carow." 

Mr.    Roosevelt  was  not  then   the  famous 


SHRINES  IN   AND  NEAR  LONDON   307 

man  that  he  has  since  become,  and  for  a 
long  time  few  American  visitors  knew  of 
the  interesting  link  between  this  fashionable 
West-End  church  and  the  President.  One 
day,  however,  a  tourist  of  a  more  than 
usually  inquisitive  turn  of  mind  made  the 
discovery,  and  feasted  his  eyes  upon  the 
entry  ;  then,  proud  of  his  achievement,  he 
immediately  noised  the  fact  abroad  among 
his  compatriots,  with  the  result  that  since 
that  time  St.  George's  has  been  visited  by 
"  troops  and  shoals  "  of  Americans. 

Then,  not  to  leave  so  remarkable  a  man 
out  in  the  cold,  there  is  Benjamin  West, 
who  succeeded  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  as 
President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  several  of 
whose  admirable  works  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  Diploma  Gallery  at  Burlington  House, 
Piccadilly.  He  was  a  notable  figure  in  his 
day,  and  the  house  in  which  he  lived  in 


308   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Newman  Street  is  still  standing,  as  well 
as  that  on  the  Terrace,  Hammersmith,  to 
which  later  he  removed. 

With  these  various  and  discursive  notes 
it  would  be  culpable  not  to  include  some 
few  particulars  of  another  shrine  not  unfre- 
quently  visited  by  Americans — to  wit,  the 
tomb  of  the  only  American  princess  ever 
married  to  an  Englishman,  Pocahontas  by 
name.  Most  who  have  read  anything  about 
the  early  colonial  days  have  read  her  story  : 
how,  the  daughter  of  Powhatan,  she  took 
greatly  to  the  whites,  and  especially  to 
Captain  John  Smith,  the  true  founder  of 
Virginia,  whose  life  she  saved  at  the  risk 
of  her  own  ;  how,  after  his  departure  (1609), 
she  was  not  so  much  seen  among  the 
Jamestown  colonists,  but  was  subsequently 
seized  and  held  as  a  hostage  for  some  white 
prisoners  in  the  hands  of  her  people  ;  and 


SHRINES   IN   AND   NEAR  LONDON  309 

how,  finally  (1613),  she  was  converted  to 
Christianity,  given  the  name  Rebecca,  and 
in  the  year  1614  was  married  to  John  Rolfe, 
with  whom  two  years  later  she  came  to 
England.  Her  beauty  and  the  devotion 
she  had  shown  to  the  whites  caused  her 
to  be  presented  at  Court,  and  received  by 
all  classes  with  great  enthusiasm.  She  was 
hailed  as  the  daughter  of  an  American  "  king," 
and  as  such  feted  and  acclaimed.  Civilisation 
and  the  English  climate,  however,  did  not 
agree  with  this  simple  child  of  the  woods,  and 
she  died  in  the  month  of  March,  1617,  at 
Gravesend,  where  her  body  was  laid  to  rest 
in  St.  George's  Church,  the  following  curious 
entry  being  made  in  the  parish  records  : 

1616  (1617),  May  2J,  Rebecca  Wrothe  wyff  of 
Thomas  Wrothe,  gent.,  a  Virginia  lady  borne, 
here  was  buried  in  ye  chauncell. 

Pocahontas     and     Rolfe     had     one     son, 


310   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

Thomas,  who,  after  living  for  many  years 
in  England,  emigrated  to  Virginia.  From 
him,  according  to  the  "  New  International 
Encyclopedia,"  many  prominent  Virginia 
families  trace  their  descent,  including  the 
Boilings,  the  Murrays,  the  Greys,  the 
Whittles,  the  Robertsons,  the  Eldridges, 
and  that  branch  of  the  Randolphs  from 
which  sprang  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke. 

Finally,  a  word  anent  the  Temple,  which 
has  been  enshrined  in  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  many  famous  Americans,  because,  as 
Lowell  once  said,  next  to  Westminster 
Abbey,  it  is  the  most  venerable  spot  connected 
with  the  race  in  all  London ;  and  further, 
because  so  many  of  America's  accredited 
representatives  to  England  have  taken  home 
with  them  pleasing  recollections  of  Gandy- 
day  hospitalities  enjoyed  within  the  ancient 
and  honoured  precincts. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

SOME    OTHER    HEROES    OF   AMERICAN 
COLONISATION 

EFERENCE  has  been  made  to 
Captain  John  Smith  in  speaking  of 
Pocahontas — Captain  John  Smith,  who  was 
one  of  the  first  company  of  English  colonists 
to  make  a  successful  settlement  in  America, 
and  one  of  the  best.  A  Lincolnshire  man, 
born  at  Willoughby  in  that  county  in  1579, 
he,  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1596, 
accompanied  the  sons  of  an  English  noble- 
man on  a  tour  on  the  Continent  as  page, 
but  soon  left  them  and  enlisted  in  a 
Protestant  company  in  France,  and  fought 
against  the  Spaniards,  afterwards  joining 

3" 


312   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

the  insurgents  in  the  Netherlands.  About 
1600  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Lincoln- 
shire, and  remained  there  for  some  time, 
living,  as  would  appear  from  one  of  his 
biographies,  a  Robinson  Crusoe  sort  of  life 
in  the  woods ;  and  then,  probably  when 
that  could  be  continued  no  longer,  taking 
again  to  a  life  of  wandering  and  fighting. 
He  had  wonderful  adventures  in  Styria,  in 
Turkey,,  and  finally  in  Morocco.  Then, 
having  seen  so  much  of  the  Old  World,  he 
thought  he  would  like  to  feast  his  eyes 
upon  the  New,  and  sailed  with  the  ex- 
pedition to  colonise  Virginia,  which  left 
Blackwall  on  December  igth,  1606.  Dis- 
sensions broke  out  before  the  three  ships, 
of  which  the  little  flotilla  consisted,  reached 
its  destination,  and  Smith  was  arrested 
(and  some  accounts  say  condemned  to  be 
hanged)  on  the  charge  of  wishing  to  murder 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  313 

the  commander  of  the  expedition,  Captain 
Christopher  Newport,  and  make  himself 
king  of  Virginia.  Providence,  however, 
spared  him  from  that  harsh  fate,  and  he 
became  one  of  the  most  active  and  useful 
members  of  the  colony,  conducting  ex- 
plorations, making  important  discoveries,  and 
obtaining  supplies  of  food  from  the  natives 
when  other  sources  failed.  In  fine,  so 
unmistakably  did  Smith  prove  himself  to 
be  the  man  par  excellence  of  the  whole 
company  of  settlers  that  he  was  in  the 
end  entrusted  with  the  guidance  of  the 
colony. 

For  a  time  he  was  a  prisoner  with  the 
Indians  ;  then  it  was  that,  according  to 
Smith's  own  narrative,  his  life  was  saved 
by  Pocahontas — a  story  which  was  at  one 
time  discredited,  but  is  now  much  more 
generally  believed.  There  is  no  inherent 


314   AMERICAN  SHRINES  LN   ENGLAND 

improbability  about  it ;  and  when  the  Indian 
maiden's  high  character  is  considered,  and 
Smith's  acknowledged  general  veracity,  a 
fair  judgment  must  incline  towards  a  belief 
in  its  truth.  One  of  his  companions  has 
put  it  on  record  that  "  in  all  his  proceedings 
he  made  justice  his  first  guide  and  ex- 
perience his  second,  ever  hating  sloth, 
baseness,  pride,  and  indignity  more  than 
any  dangers  ;  never  allowing  himself  more 
than  his  soldiers ;  that  upon  no  danger 
would  he  send  them  where  he  would  not 
lead  himself;  that  he  would  never  see 
them  want  what  he  had  or  by  any  means 
could  get  them  ;  that  he  would  rather  want 
than  borrow,  or  starve  than  not  pay  ;  loved 
action  more  than  words,  and  hated  falsehood 
worse  than  death." 

In    1609    Smith    was    obliged    to    return 
to  England  because  of  hurts  which  he  had 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  315 

received  that  no  one  in  the  colony  could 
medicine  for  him.  He  afterwards  visited 
the  New  England  coast  several  times  for 
the  purpose  of  trade,  being  on  the  last 
occasion  taken  prisoner  by  a  French  ship, 
but  was  released  after  he  had  served  with 
his  captors  against  the  Spaniards.  His 
death  occurred  in  1631,  when  his  remains 
were  interred  in  the  choir  of  St.  Sepulchre's 
Church — a  church  famous  in  its  way  as 
being  hand  and  glove,  as  it  were,  with  the 
Old  Bailey  near  by.* 

*  Whilst  writing,  an  interesting  point  in  legal  history 
has  been  marked  by  a  handsome  tablet  in  the  entrance 
hall  of  the  new  Old  Bailey. 

"  Near  this  site,"  runs  the  inscription,  "  William  Penn 
and  William  Mead  were  tried  in  1670  for  preaching 
to  an  unlawful  assembly  in  Gracechurch  Street. 

"This  tablet  commemorates  the  courage  and  endur- 
ance of  the  jury,  Thomas  Vere,  Edward  Bushell,  and 
ten  others,  who  refused  to  give  a  verdict  against 
them,  although  locked  up  without  food  for  two  nights, 


316    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

Smith's  various  works,  not  only  in  the 
new  country,  but  on  the  various  matters 
which  he  wrote  upon,  are  well  worth  read- 
ing to-day ;  although  nothing  in  all  his 
writings  strikes  one  or  leaves  an  impression 
like  that  of  his  character,  so  deep-based  is 
it  and  sterling. 

We  know  nothing  of  Smith's  rank  or 
ancestry  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
son  of  George  and  Alice  Smith.  One 
surmises  that  he  may  have  been  of  good 
yeoman  stock.  That  he  was  anyway  of 
first-rate  stock  is  evident  from  the  grit 
and  grip  he  displayed,-  as  also  from  the 

and   were    fined    for  their   finding   a   verdict   of   '  Not 
guilty.' 

"The  case  of  these  jurymen  was  reviewed  on  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  Chief  Justice  Vaughan 
delivered  the  opinion  to  the  Court  which  established 
the  right  of  juries  to  give  their  verdict  according  to 
their  convictions." 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  317 

malleableness  and  polish  to  which  they 
lent  themselves.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  he  attributed  what  he  was  as  a  man 
and  a  soldier  to  his  study  of  Marcus 
Aurelius  and  Machiavelli's  "Art  of  War." 

The  early  history  of  Virginia  presents 
us  with  but  few  men  of  the  calibre  of 
Captain  John  Smith,  and  this  though  of 
the  hundred  persons  who  took  part  in  the 
expedition  which  resulted  in  the  foundation 
of  Jamestown  fifty-four  are  recorded  to 
have  belonged  to  the  rank  of  gentlemen ; 
while  of  the  reinforcement  of  emigrants 
(numbering  130  in  all)  which  reached 
Jamestown  two  years  later  (1608),  at  least 
thirty-three  were  gentlemen.  There  is  a 
particular  reason  for  the  cachet  of  gentility 
which  from  the  first  attached  to  Virginia. 
Elizabeth  was  specially  interested  in  it,  and 
the  fact  that  she  was  caused  many  of  the 


318    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

highest  aristocracy  to  back  the  various 
efforts  at  exploration  and  colonisation  with 
their  money  and  influence.  Nor  did  this 
interest  decline  under  James.  Of  the  325 
incorporators  whose  signatures  were  attached 
to  the  charter  of  1612,  twenty-five  were 
peers  of  the  realm,  1 1 1  were  knights,  sixty- 
five  esquires,  and  twenty  "  gentlemen  " — a 
designation  which  in  those  days  had  a 
meaning  more  distinctive  of  a  special  social 
class  than  it  has  now. 

Nor  did  this  interest  stop  at  supplying 
the  funds  of  war.  The  annals  of  Virginia 
contain  name  after  name  of  men  belonging 
to  the  highest  aristocracy  who  in  one  way 
or  another  were  mixed  up  with  the  affairs 
of  that  colony  or  of  others  neighbouring 
it.  In  this  regard  they  present  a  striking 
contrast  to  what  we  see  at  the  present 
day.  They  were  then  builders  of  towns, 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  319 

cultivators  of  the  wilderness ;  their  descen- 
dants turn  cultivated  lands  into  wilderness, 
and  make  villages  a  desolation  for  the  sake 
of  sport. 

Among  the  more  distinguished  of  these 
aristocratic  colony-builders  was  the  founder 
of  Maryland,  briefly  referred  to  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter.  George  Calvert,  Secretary 
of  State  to  James  I.,  was  the.  first  man  to 
conceive  the  idea  of  a  colony  in  north 
Virginia.  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Virginia 
Company.  In  1631  he  visited  the  colony, 
and  observing  that  there  was  no  settlement 
north  of  the  Potomac,  he  resolved  to  obtain 
a  grant  of  land  and  colonise  it  with  persons 
of  his  own  faith,  who  were  then  bitterly 
persecuted  in  England. 

George  Calvert,  who,  though  he  became 
an     Irish    peer    in    1625,    was    of    English 


320   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

descent  (having  been  born  at  Kipling  in 
Yorkshire,  in  1582),  had  in  1623  obtained 
a  charter  to  found  a  colony  in  Newfound- 
land under  the  name  of  the  province  of 
Avalon,  "  in  imitation,"  says  Lloyd,  "  of  old 
Avalon  in  Somersetshire,  where  Glastonbury 
stands,  the  firstfruits  of  Christianity  in 
Britain,  as  the  other  was  to  be  in  America." 
He  crossed  the  ocean  himself  in  1627  and 
again  in  1629,  taking  his  family  with  him, 
but  finding  the  climate  very  trying  (besides 
suffering  greatly  from  the  hostility  of  the 
French),  he  relinquished  the  idea  of  a 
colony  in  Newfoundland,  and  applied  for 
a  grant  of  land  in  the  more  congenial 
region  of  Virginia.  The  king  endeavoured 
to  dissuade  him  from  the  project,  but  finally 
(in  1632)  gave  him  a  grant  of  the  territory 
subsequently  named  Maryland,  after  Queen 
Henrietta  Maria.  Before  the  charter  was 


tEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  321 

issued,  however,  Sir  George  died,  and  the 
patent  devolved  upon  his  son  Cecil,  who 
thus  became  the  actual  founder  of  the 
colony.  Cecil  Lord  Baltimore  appointed 
his  brother  Leonard  governor,  and  in 
November,  1632,  that  worthy  man  sailed 
with  two  hundred  gentlemen  and  a  number 
of  dependents,  and  landed  in  the  following 
February  near  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac. 
The  colony  was  well  managed,  and  made 
more  progress  in  six  months  than  Virginia 
had  done  in  so  many  years.  This  was  in 
part  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
were  treated  in  much  the  same  spirit 
which  Penn  adopted  with  such  success  at 
a  later  date.  Troubles,  however,  came 
with  the  Protectorate,  and  these  were  not 
healed  until  after  the  Restoration,  when 
Lord  Baltimore  appointed  his  son  Charles 
Tovernor.  The  latter,  following  the  maxims 
21 


322   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

of  his  father,  succeeded  in  establishing 
peace  and  prosperity  in  the  colony,  albeit 
only  for  a  season,  the  fact  of  his  being 
a  Catholic  causing  him  then  and  after- 
wards, when,  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
he  succeeded  to  the  title  and  the  proprietary, 
a  vast  deal  of  trouble. 

These  Baltimores  were  a  capable  family, 
taking  their  name  from  an  estate  in  County 
Longford ;  but  in  a  few  generations  the 
race  became  extinct,  and  Irish  Baltimore 
knows  them  no  more. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  "  English " 
was  the  first  colonisation  of  Virginia  and 
New  England.  In  the  early  annals  com- 
paratively few  Scots'  names  appear,  and 
rarely  an  Irish  one.  Later,  of  course,  the 
aspect  of  affairs  changed,  the  Dutch  and 
Swedes  in  particular  gradually  appearing 
upon  the  scene  as  the  American  seaboard 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  323 

became  more  generally  known.  But  in 
the  early  days  of  migration  it  was  the 
English  counties,  and  more  especially  the 
midland  and  eastern  ones,  which,  as  would 
appear,  supplied  the  chief  human  pabulum 
for  the  hungry  lands  of  the  western 
continent.  Lincolnshire  was  especially 
prolific  of  recruits,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
notable  names  of  early  New  England 
history  can  be  traced  back  to  that  county. 
That  of  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  of  Boston, 
has  already  been  mentioned.  From  him 
was  descended,  through  his  daughter  Maria, 
the  famous  Cotton  Mather,  one  of  a  notable 
family  of  New  England  divines.  His  grand- 
father was  the  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  of 
Lowton,  Lancashire,  who  became  pastor 
of  the  episcopal  church  at  Toxteth,  and 
on  being  deposed  in  1633  (at  the  age 
of  thirty-eight),  betook  himself  to  Massa- 


324   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

chusetts,  where  he  settled  at  Dorchester, 
and  remained  there  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.*  As  his  second  wife  he  espoused 
the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Cotton, 
pastor  of  the  first  church  in  Boston ;  his 
eldest  son,  the  Rev.  Increase  Mather,  being 
issue  of  his  first  wife,  Catherine,  daughter 
of  Edward  Holt,  Esq.,  of  Bury,  Lancashire. 
Few  of  the  divines  who  found  their  way 
across  the  Atlantic  for  conscience'  sake  are 
held  in  more  honour  than  John  Cotton, 
who,  leaving  English  Boston  (where,  in 
the  Cotton  Chapel,  St.  Botolph's,  is  a  tablet 
to  his  memory,  erected  by  admiring 
Americans),  landed  in  Boston  harbour  on 
September  4th,  1633,  along  with  Thomas 
Leverett,  an  alderman  of  the  old  borough, 

*  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  seventy-seven  English 
divines,  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  became 
pastors  of  churches  in  America  before  1640. 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  325 

and  afterwards  governor  of  the  colony, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  founder  of 
Connecticut,  and  several  other  notable  men. 
Hooker  was  born  at  Markfield,  Leicester- 
shire (1586),  and  educated  first  at  Market 
Bosworth  Grammar  School,  and  then  at 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  where  he 
took  the  degree  of  B.A.  in  1608  and  that  of 
M.A.  in  161 1.  After  holding  a  fellowship  at 
Cambridge  for  some  time  he  became  rector 
of  a  church  at  Esher,  Surrey.  Some  years 
later  (1629),  when  winning  renown  as  a 
preacher  at  Chelmsford,  he  was  made  to 
feel  the  tyrant  hand  of  Laud  for  his  Puri- 
tanism, and  found  it  convenient  to  seek 
refuge  in  Holland,  the  nearest  house  of 
refuge  for  those  persecuted  for  conscience' 
sake.  He  made  a  sojourn  there  of  three 
years,  and  then  sailed  for  New  England, 
settling  at  Cambridge  (October  1633),  and 


326   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

becoming  pastor  of  the  first  church  there. 
Three  years  later  he,  with  members  of  his 
church,  removed  into  the  Connecticut  Valley, 
and  so  started  that  colony. 

The  successor  of  Hooker  at  Cambridge 
was  Thomas  Shepherd,  or  Sheperd,  a 
Towcester  (Northants)  man,  and,  like  his 
predecessor,  a  graduate  of  Emmanuel  College, 
Cambridge.  Educated  at  the  grammar 
school  of  his  native  town  (where  his  people 
were  substantial  landowners  of  the  yeoman 
class),  he  passed  thence  (in  1619)  to 
Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  M.A.  in 
1627  (tne  Year  tnat  Jonn  Harvard  went 
up),  and  after  ordination,  became  minister 
at  Earls  Colne,  Essex,  but  in  1635  found 
himself  compelled  to  migrate  to  New 
England  on  account  of  his  Nonconformity. 
The  year  after  his  arrival  he  was  appointed 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Cambridge,  and  took 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  327 

an  active  part  in  the  foundation  of  Harvard 
College,  of  which  he  was  the  first  minister. 
It  will  be  noticed  how  many  of  these 
early  pioneers  for  religion's  sake  were 
educated  at  Cambridge.  Something  like  a 
hundred  university  men  cast  in  their  lot 
with  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
during  the  twenty  years  from  1630  to  1650. 
Of  these  seventy  were  from  Cambridge, 
twenty  of  them  being  graduates  of  Emmanuel 
College.  They  were  indeed  so  many,  and 
their  influence  for  good  was  so  great,  and 
is  so  still,  that  the  famous  university  town 
on  the  Cam  is  like  a  Mecca  for  pilgrims 
from  across  the  Atlantic,  but  especially  for 
Harvard  men,  who,  in  a  window  of  the 
chapel  of  his  college,  may  see  their  own 
memorial  to  the  founder  of  their  Alma  Mater, 
and  beneath  it  a  tablet  bearing  a  suitable 
inscription. 


328   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

How  much  the  honour  paid  to  Cambridge, 
and  the  gratitude  felt  towards  it  are  deserved, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the 
roll  of  those  who  carried  the  spirit  they 
there  imbibed  to  the  over-sea  colony  in- 
cludes, besides  those  already  named,  such 
men  as  Henry  Demster  (of  Magdalene 
College),  the  first  president  of  Harvard  ; 
Charles  Chauncey  (of  Trinity),  the  second 
president ;  John  Eliot,  the  apostle  to  the 
Indians  (of  Jesus  College),  a  native  of  Wid- 
ford,  Herts;  and  Roger  Williams,  the  founder 
of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  the  son  of  a 
merchant  tailor  of  London,  a  Charterhouse 
scholar,  and  graduate  of  Pembroke  College — 
a  man  who,  like  the  last  named,  was  a 
perfect  hero  in  his  way,  sterling  and  upright 
to  the  last  degree,  albeit  badly  touched  with 
"  theologitis." 

Of  the  sister  university  was  John  Daven- 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  329 

port,  the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Newhaven. 
A  native  of  Coventry,  where  his  father  once 
filled  the  jnayoral  chair,  he  was  educated  at 
Merton  and  then  at  Magdalen  College, 
where  he  took  his  M.A.  and  B.D.  degrees 
in  1625.  After  holding  a  chaplaincy  at 
Hilton  Castle,  Durham,  for  some  time, 
he  became  vicar  of  St.  Stephen's,  Coleman 
Street,  London,  but  was  obliged  to  resign 
the  living  on  account  of  his  theological 
views  and  retire  to  Holland.  Returning 
thence  two  years  later,  he  took  the  advice 
of  John  Cotton  and  sailed  for  Boston  in 
1637,  and  in  the  following  year,  along  with 
friends  who  had  gone  out  with  him,  he 
proceeded  to  Quinnipiac,  and  there  founded 
Newhaven. 

Among  those  who  went  to  New  England 
with  Davenport  was  Theophilus  Eaton 
(already  referred  to  in  connection  with 


330   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN  ENGLAND 

Elihu  Yale),  who  was  a  native  of  Stony 
Stratford,  Bucks,  his  father  holding  a  curacy 
there  at  the  time  of  his  birth.  Subsequently 
the  latter  became  vicar  of  Holy  Trinity, 
Coventry,  and  then  vicar  of  Great  Budworth, 
Cheshire,  of  which  county  he  was  a  native. 
Whilst  at  school  at  Coventry  Theophilus 
Eaton  formed  a  lifelong  friendship  with 
John  Davenport,  whose  parishioner  he  sub- 
sequently became  when,  as  a  merchant,  he 
settled  in  London  and  acquired  the  freedom 
of  the  city.  When  his  friend  decided  to 
proceed  to  America,  he  elected  to  go  there 
with  him.  Together  they  went  to  Newhaven 
(1638),  of  which  colony  he  was  elected 
president  the  following  year,  an  office  he 
continued  to  hold  until  his  death  (in  1658). 

Another  notable  family  (hailing  from 
Lincolnshire)  was  that  to  which  Mrs.  Ann 
Hutchinson  belonged — a  lady  who  created 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  331 

no  small  stir  in  her  day.  Of  the  same  stock, 
originally  of  Alford,  was  Governor  Hutchin- 
son,  a  man  of  more  sedate  character  and 
balanced  judgment  than  his  female  relative. 

Governor  Bradstreet  also  was  a  Lincoln- 
shire man,  having  been  born  at  Horblin, 
near  Spalding,  in  that  county  in  1603. 
After  spending  a  year  at  Emmanuel  College, 
Cambridge,  he  resided  for  some  time  in  the 
family  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  as  steward, 
and  then  in  that  of  the  Countess  of  Warwick 
in  the  same  capacity ;  after  which,  with 
Winthrop,  Dudley  (a  Northampton  man 
by  birth),  and  others,  he  elected  for  the 
New  World,  sailing  thither  in  1630,  taking 
with  him  his  wife  the  poetess  (already 
referred  to),  whom  both  Dana  and  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  were  proud  to  reckon 
among  their  ancestors. 

Yorkshire  likewise  gives  not  a  few  famous 


332   AMERICAN   SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

names  to  the  American  Valhalla.  Henry 
Wadsworth  Longfellow,  the  poet,  among 
others,  traced  his  descent  from  a  Yorkshire 
family,  and  not  only  on  his  father's  but 
on  his  mother's  side  likewise.  The  latter, 
Zilpah,  was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Peleg 
Wadsworth,  who,  it  may  interest  some  to 
know,  counted  among  his  ancestors  the  John 
Alden  and  Priscilla  Mullens  of  Longfellow's 
well-known  poem,  "  The  Courtship  of  Miles 
Standish." 

In  speaking  of  James  Russell  Lowell  it 
was  noted  that  on  the  spindle  side  he 
was  descended  from  an  Orkney  family. 
Another  famous  American  writer,  Washing- 
ton Irving,  traced  his  descent  from  the  same 
region,  his  father  being  the  son  of  Magnus 
Irving,  of  Shapinska,  one  of  the  Orkney 
Islands,  and  Catharine  Williamson.  His 
mother,  Sarah  Sanders,  was  a  Falmouth 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  333 

woman,  and  at  Falmouth  she  and  her 
husband,  who  was  an  officer  on  an  armed 
packet-ship  running  between  that  port  and 
New  York,  were  married  (in  1761).  Two 
years  later  they  settled  in  New  York,  where 
in  due  course  their  famous  son  was  born. 
When  he  came  over  to  this  country  one 
of  the  first  places  he  visited  was  Scotland, 
where  he  was  gratified  to  find  that  one  of 
his  ancestors  was  no  other  than  William 
de  Irwin,  armour-bearer  to  Robert  Bruce. 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  author  of  "  The 
Scarlet  Letter,"  was  not  altogether  proud 
of  his  "  Pilgrim  "  ancestor,  but  he  records 
of  William  Hathorne  (as  the  family  spelled 
the  name  until  Nathaniel  put  a  "w"  to 
it),  who  accompanied  Winthrop  in  the 
Arbella,  that  he  belonged  to  a  Wiltshire 
family  which  had  its  residence  at  Wigcastle, 
Wilton.  He  at  first  settled  at  Dorchester, 


334   AMERICAN  SHRINES  IN   ENGLAND 

but  moved  thence  to  Salem  (in  1636),  where 
he  received  a  large  grant  of  land.  A  man 
of  strong  and  energetic  will,  suffering  from 
a  Puritanism  of  the  worst  type,  he  is  said 
to  have  been  instrumental  as  a  magistrate 
in  sending  "  Anne  Coleman  and  four  of 
her  friends  "  to  be  whipped  through  Salem, 
Boston,  and  Dedham  for  witchcraft.  His 
son  John  outdid  even  his  father  in  narrow- 
minded  bigotry  and  cruelty,  especially  to- 
wards the  Quakers.  Thus  does  bigotry 
and  intolerance  ever  beget  their  like. 
Happily  out  of  such  harsh  Hathornes  it 
is  always  possible  that  a  richer  growth  ot 
Hawthornes  may  blossom  forth  in  time. 

One  might  refer  to  many  other  famous 
Americans  and  the  parts  whence  they  came 
on  this  side :  to  John  Adams,  for  instance, 
the  second  President,  whose  earliest  known 
forebear  was  an  Ap  Adams  of  the  "  Marches 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  335 

of  Wales."  The  sixteenth  in  descent  from 
this  "  Ap  "  was  a  Henry  Adams,  who  broke 
up  his  home  in  Devonshire  and  sailed  with 
his  eight  sons  to  Massachusetts,  "to  be 
quit  of  the  religious  persecution "  which 
then  made  the  old  country  intolerable. 
He  settled  in  Braintree,  and  was  the  great- 
great-grandfather  of  the  famous  John  Adams 
who  succeeded  Washington  in  the  presi- 
dency. Or  we  might  refer  to  Thomas 
Jefferson,  author  of  the  American  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  whose  grandfather  is 
said  to  have  owned  a  small  property  near 
Chesterfield  (though  other  accounts  represent 
him  as  having  belonged  to  a  Yorkshire 
family).  But,  by  way  of  conclusion,  let  it 
suffice  to  recall  the  name  of  a  family  which, 
it  is  averred,  has  produced  a  larger  number 
of  distinguished  men,  both  in  statesmanship 
and  war,  than  any  other  that  England  gave 


336   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 

to  America.  This  is  the  Lee  family,  from 
which  sprang  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  Washington 
County,  Virginia,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  Southern  Confederation.  The 
one  to  plant  the  name  in  the  new  country 
was  Colonel  Richard  Lee,  who  emigrated 
to  Virginia  about  1641-42.  It  is  not 
known  whether  he  was  descended  from  the 
Lees  of  Ditchley  or  the  Lees  of  Coton, 
but  whether  the  one  or  the  other,  he 
unquestionably  sprang  from  a  line  of 
ancestors  of  whom  it  has  been  said  that 
"  they  were  knights  and  gentlemen  of  high 
position  before  the  ancestors  of  half  the 
present  peerage  of  England  had  emerged 
from  obscurity."  *  There  appears  to  have 
been  no  political  motive  in  the  emigration 
of  Colonel  Richard  Lee.  He  was  led  to 
throw  in  his  lot  with  the  planters  of 
*  "  Social  Life  in  Virginia,"  by  Philip  A.  Bruce, 


HEROES  OF  AMERICAN  COLONISATION  337 

Virginia    simply    in    the    hope    of    thereby 
greatly  improving  his  fortunes. 

How  many  more  names  might  fittingly 
find  a  record  here  !  the  names  of  men  who, 
in  their  various  spheres,  dared  and  did,  let 
us  say,  in  the  first  place  for  the  expression 
of  their  manhood,  and  in  the  second,  as 
it  proved,  for  the  good  of  humanity.  But 
there  is  a  limit  to  all  things,  and  necessarily 
to  the  length  of  a  book  ;  and  so  we  will  bring 
our  American  Shrines  to  an  end  with  "  a 
pair  of  words,"  as  our  German  friends  would 
say,  on  the  naval  hero  into  whose  mouth 
the  most  original  of  American  poets  puts 
the  words  (said  to  be  historic),  when  his 
ship  appears  to  be  sinking,  and  he  is  called 
upon  to  surrender  :  "  I  have  only  just  begun 
fighting."  The  hero  in  question  was  Paul 
Jones,  or  more  properly  John  Paul,  the 
youngest  son  of  a  gardener  of  that  name, 
22 


338   AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 

living  at  Kirkbean,  Kirkcudbrightshire,  who, 
looking  upon  the  Solway  from  his  earliest 
youth,  learned  to  love  the  sea,  was  appren- 
ticed to  it,  and  became  one  of  its  most  daring 
sons,  not  only  as  an  intrepid  navigator  but 
as  a  fighter.  For  in  his  days  (1747 — 1792) 
there  was  ever  much  fighting  to  the  fore — 
fighting  in  the  slave  trade,  fighting  in  the 
smuggling  trade,  as  well  as  in  the  more 
open  trade  of  war — and  Jones  did  his 
share  in  all.  In,  or  about,  1773  he  became 
Americanised  through  the  death  of  an  elder 
brother  in  Virginia,  leaving  property,  which 
he  went  out  to  take  charge  of,  and  in  this 
employ  was  kept  for  some  time  in  the  States. 
Two  years  later  (December  1 775)  he  accepted 
a  commission  in  the  American  Navy,  serving 
first  as  lieutenant  in  the  Alfred  frigate  under 
the  name  of  Jones,  which  he  then  assumed, 
afterwards  in  other  vessels.  The  action 


AMERICAN  SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND   339 

that  made  him  famous,  which  Whitman  cele- 
brates as  above,  was  fought  in  Le  Bonhomme 
Richard  against  the  British  frigate  Serapis 
off  Flamborough  Head,  September  28th, 
1779,  and  resulted  in  a  complete  victory 
for  Jones.  It  was  a  splendid  bit  of  work, 
but  as  it  may  be  read  about  in  the  bio- 
graphies of  the  hero,  there  is  no  need  to 
give  any  details  of  it  here ;  this  being 
not  a  history  so  much  as  a  mirror  in  which 
is  shown  how  some  of  Britain's  noblest 
and  most  strenuous  sons  went  about  the 
making  of  a  new  world  and  a  great  imperial 
people. 


INDEX 


Abbot,  Sampson,  202 

Adam,  VVinthrop,  202  et  seq. 

Adams,  John,  334 

Admiral  Penn,  213 

A  Lancashire  Hero,  192 

Alice  Washington,  134 

Alleyn,  Edward,  and  the  "Col- 
lege of  God's  Gift,"  275,  282 

Althorp,  v.,  7,  13,  22,  25,  58, 
60;  Park,  80;  House,  8l, 
83,  91,  92,  97,  100,  103 

Alun,  249  et  seq. 

Ambrose  Willis,  68 

American  Republic,  founding  of, 
136 

Amphillis  Washington,  116,  127, 
128,  130 

Anderson,  Sir  Richard,  125 

—  Mary,  125 
Andre,  Major,  296 
Archbishop  Sandys.  See  Sandys. 
Armada,  21 

Arms,  Spencer,  54,  92,  94 

—  Washington,  40,  41,  42,  105, 
106,  107,  108 

Arundel,  Earl  of,  96 
Aston  Cockayne  (quoted),  273 
Aubrey  (quoted),  276 
Avalon,  320 


Baker,    historian  of  Northants 
(quoted),  24,  69,  128,  130 


Ballad  of  Sir  Edmund  Verney's 

Ghost,  65 

Baltimore,  Earl  of,  135 
Bankside,  274 
Baxter,  121 
Bayard,   the  Hon.  T.  F.,   190, 

285 

Beaumont  (the  dramatist),  276 
Bell  Tower,  Evesham,  294 
Bellingham,  Governor,  183 
Ben  Jonson,  97  ;  (quoted),  98 
Benefield,  Richard,  276,  282 
Berkeleys,  The,  212 
Bernard  family,  72 
Bevan,  Sylvanus,  302 
Bevercotes,  173 
Bigland,  Henry,  230 
Blue  Idol,  The,  231 
Boston,  Lincolnshire,  180 
Bradford,  William,  171  et  seq. 
Bradstreet,  Anne  (poetess),  207 

—  Simon,  207,  331 
Bransby,  Rev.  John,  304 
Brewster,  William,  167  et  seq, 
Brington,  Great,  3,  4,   22,  23, 

24,  25,  26,  59,  61,  73,  74,  75, 
79 ;  church  of,  82,  86,  91 

—  Little,  71,  74,  82,  105,  109 
Bristol,  292,  295 
Broadway,  Worcestershire,  292, 

293 

Brooks,  Phillips,  270 
Brovvnists,  or  Separatists,  174 
Bryn  Eglwys,  238 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  15,  118, 

3°3 
Budleigh  Salterton,  298 


342   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 


Bulkley,  Rev.  Edward,  280 
Butler,  Margaret,  23,  100 
—  William,  23,  75,  106 


Calvert,  Cecil,  Lord  Baltimore, 
321 

—  Charles,  321 

—  George,  Lord  Baltimore,  319 

—  Leonard,  321 
Cambridge  University,  259,  260, 

327,  328 

—  U.S.A.,  262,  264 
Canterbury,  Pilgrimage  to,  278 
Cape  Cod,  landing  at,  198 
Carlyle's  "  Past  and  Present," 

202 

Carver,  John,  190 
Catelin,  Mary,  101 

—  Sir  Robert,  101 
Catelyns,  101 

Cathedral,   Southwark,   253    et 

seq. 

Cavendish,  Lord  James,  248 
Chalfont  St.  Giles,  222,  226,  235 

Peters,  215,  227 

Chapel,  the  Spencer,  93  et  seq. 
Charles  I.,  47,  83,  99,  100 ;  as 

Prince,  116,  293 
Chatham,  Lord,  300 
Charlestown,  261 
Chaucer  (the  poet),  277,  278 
Chauncey,  Rev.  Charles,  328 
Chester,  Colonel,  112,  295 
Childs,  George  W.,  285 
Chilton,  Mary,  188 
Chishull,  Elizabeth,  23,  26,  58 

—  John,  26 

Choate,  Hon.  Joseph  H.,  264, 

266,  271,  272 
Chorley  old  church,  94 
Clifton,  Richard,  175,  177,  178, 

184 
Clopton,  Thomasine,  205 


Cobham,  Lord,  302-3 
Coddington,  William,  183,  207 
Cockayne,  Aston  (quoted),  273 
College,    Harvard,   founder   of, 

253  et  seq. 

Constable,  the  painter,  202 
Coolham,  231 

Cope,  Sir  William,  48,  49,  50 
Copefield,  Adam,  202 
Cornet  Joyce,  83 
Cotton,  John,  183,  323,  329 
Countess  of  Sunderland,  81 
"  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish," 

332 

Cox-Edwards,  Rev.  J.  C.,  143 
Cradle  of  the  Washingtons,  28 
Craven  Street,  Franklin  in,  300 
Cromwell,  17,  293 
Crusader  methods,  209 
Culworth,  29,  33,  43 
Curtis,  Philip,  26,  in 
Curzon  family,  233 


Dana,  the  writer,  331 
Davenport,  John,  328,  329,  330 
Davidson,  William,  171,  173 
Day,  Thomas,  305 
Defoe,  Daniel,  305 
Demster,  Henry,  328 
Despencers,  91 
Digby,  Ann,  103 
—  Lord,  62 
Diploma  Gallery,  307 
D'Israeli,  Isaac,  305 
Dryden,  Alice  (quoted),  14 
Dudley,  Thomas,  183,  207,331 
Dugdale  (quoted),  49,  57 
Durham,  4,  5 

Duxbury,  Massachusetts,  2OI 
Duxbury  Hall,  the  home  of  the 

Standishes,  192,  195, 196,  200 
Dyer,   Sir   Edward   (the  poet), 

277 


INDEX 


343 


Eaton,   Theophilus,   Esq.,  240, 

329,  330 
Ecton,  3,  4,  138  et  seq,;  rectors 

of,  143 

Edgecott  Park,  47 
Edgehill,  47,  57,  62,  65 
Eliot,  John,  328 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  14,  40,  42 
Ellwood,  Thomas,  215,  220,  221, 

225,  235 
Elm- tree    memorial     at    Stoke 

Park,  233 

Emerson,  278  et  seq. 
Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge, 

259,  265,  284,  325,  326,  331 
Endicott,  John,  208  et  seq. 
Evesham,  292,  294 


Farge,  Mr.  J.  La,  264 
Fawsley,  41 

Fenny  Compton,  50,  68 
Fitzherbert,  Elizabeth,  130 
Fisher,  Richard,  149 
Flaxman,  sculptured  figures  by, 

104 
Fletcher,  John  (the  poet),  273, 

276 

Folger,  Peter,  147 
Forth,  John,  203 

—  Mary,  205 

Fountain,  Memorial  at  Stratford- 

on-Avon,  285 
Fox,  George,  225 
Franklin,    Benjamin,  2,  3,  136 

et  seq.,  300 

—  Benjamin  (uncle  of  the  states- 
man), 139,  145 

—  Henry,  138 

—  John,  139,  148 

—  Josiah,  139,  145 

—  Thomas,  138^ seq.;  will  of,  149 


Froissart,  197 

Fuller,  121 ;  (quoted)  275 


Gainsborough,  Memorial  Church 

at,  190 

Gainsborough  (the  painter),  202 
Gerard,  Mark,  v. 
Ghost,  Sir  Edmund  Verney's,  65 
Globe  Theatre,  274,  282 
Gondomar,  117 
Gough,  Elizabeth,  14 
—  William,  14 
Gower  (the  poet),  277 
Graunt,  Isabel,  92 
Gravesend,  309 
Gray  (the  poet),  234 
Greatheart  of  the  Pilgrim  Band, 

20 1 
Gresford,  North  Wales,  249  et 

seq. 

Grono,  Plas,  247 
Groton  Manor,  202 
Gulielma  Penn(wife  of  William), 

221,  225,  229,  231,  232 


H 

Hakluyt,  Richard,  295 
Halifax,  Lord,  141 
Hanson,  John,  176 
"  Harvard  House,"  285 
Harvard,  John,  253  et  seq. 

—  Robert,  253,  256  et  seq. 
Hatton,  Sir  Christopher,  83 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  333 

—  William,  333 

Hay  ward,  Martha,  128,  129 
Heard,  Sir  Isaac,  no,  128 
Helmdon,  29 
Hengrave,  6,  16 
Henry  VII.,  48,  49,  BO,  54,  88, 
91 


344   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 


Henry  VIII.,  8,  IO,  17,  51,  92, 

1 66,  280 

Henry,  Prince,  83,  97 
Henslowe,  Philip,  276,  282 
Herald's  Visitation,  128,  131 
Hertburn,  5 
Hervey,  Rev.  J.,  156 
"  History    and    Antiquities    of 

Ecton"  (quoted),  158,  160 
"  History  of  Northamptonshire," 

24,  69 

Hogarth,  160,  161 
Holdenby,  Elizabeth,  83 

—  House,  83 

Holland,  Flight  of  Puritans  to, 

1 80  et  seq. 

Holmby  House.    See  Holdenby 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  331 
Holy  rood,  97 

Hooker,  Rev.  Thomas,  325 
Hope  Theatre,  274 
Howard,  John,  305 
Howell,  his  "  Familiar  Letters" 

(quoted),  116 
Hutchinson,  Ann,  330 

—  Governor,  331 
Hymners,  Catherine,  248 


Irving,  Sir  Henry,  285 

— Washington,  4,41,46; "  Sketch 

Book"   (quoted),    249,     285, 

332 

Isaac  Walton,  249 
Islip,  mural  monuments  at,  in, 

112 

Isted,  Mr.,  of  Ecton,  149 
"  Itinerary"  of  Leyland  (quoted), 

1 66 

J 

James  I.,  Queen  of,  96 
Janssen,  the  sculptor,  273 


Jefferson,  Thomas,  2,  335 
Johnson,  Isaac,  207 

—  Lady  Arbella,  207 
Jones,  Mary,  124 

—  Paul,  337 

Sonson,  Ben,  97,  98 
ordans,  221  et  seq. 
oyce,  Cornet,  83,  104 


Kames,  Lord,  300 
Kitson,    Catherine,   7,    14,    15, 
47,  94 

—  Margaret,  6,  15 

—  Robert,  6,  15 

—  Sir  Thomas,  6,  7,  14,  15,  16, 
47.  94 

Knightley,  Susan,  93 
Knowling,    Andrew,   his   Will, 

129,  132 
Kytson.     See  Kitson 


La  Farge,  Mr.  J.,  264 
Layton,  Dr.  Richard,  17 
Lee,  Colonel  Richard,  336 

—  Robert,  E.,  336 

Legend  of  Queen  Bess,  A,  43 

—  of  Sir  Edmund  Verney,  65 

—  of  Sulgrave,  44 
Leverett,  Governor,  183,  324 
Leyden,  church  at,  191 
Leyland  (quoted),  1 66 
Light,  Robert,  23 

Lloyd,  David,  118 
Long,  Dudley,  248 
Longfellow  (quoted),  193,  201, 

209,  287,  332 
Lowell,  James  Russell  (quoted), 

192,  201,  288,  290,  291,  332 

—  Rev.  Charles,  291 


INDEX 


345 


Luton,  124,  127 

"  Lygon  Arms,"  Broadway,  292 

M 

Machiavelli's    "Art    of   War," 

317 

Makepeace,  Abel,  21 

—  Lawrence,  21,  25 
Marcus  Aurelius,  317 
Maryland   (Founder    of),    135, 

320 
Mary,  Queen,  144 

—  Queen  of  Scots,  55 
Massinger,    Philip   (the    poet), 

273.  275 
Mather,   Cotton  (quoted),    176, 

244,  323 

—  Rev.  Richard,  323 
Mayflower,  187,  188,  198 
Memorial  Chapel,  Harvard,  265, 

266 

—  Fountain     at     Stratford-on- 
Avon,  285 

Memorials  in  and  near  London, 

287  et  seq. 

Miles  Standish,  192  et  seq. 
Millet,  F.  D.  (the  artist),  293 
Milton,  215,  235,  266,  267 
Montfort,  Sir  Simon  de,  49 
Moreton  Pinkney,  29 
Morley,  A.  L.  Y.,  v.,  77,  87 
"  Moses  of  New  England,"  203 

N 

Naunton,  Sir  Robert,  204 
New  England  (project  to  colon- 
ise), 167,  322 

—  Historic    and    Genealogical 
Register,  127,  241 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  231 
North,  Dudley  L.,  245,  248 
Northampton  Mayors,  12 

—  Mercury,  12 


Odin,  5 

Old  Bailey,  Penn  Memorial 
315 


Palmer,  Archdeacon,  143 

—  "  Esquire,"  140 

—  Thomas,  143 

"Paradise    Lost"    and    "Re- 
gained," 235 
Pargiter,  Abigail,  61 

—  Amy,  14,  23 

—  Robert,  14,  23 

—  William,  14 
Paul  Jones,  337 

Pedigree,  Washington,  23.  133 
Penn,  Admiral,  213 

—  Gulielma,    221,     225,     229, 

231 

—  Hannah,  225 

—  William,  2  ;  his  Homes  and 
Burial  Place,  211  et  seq.  ;  301, 
3°2,  321 

Penn  village,  212,  233 
Pennington,  Isaac,  215,  216,  217, 
221-5 

—  William,  215 
Pennsylvania,  223 
Percy,  Bishop,  157 
Pershore  Abbey,  294 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  1 75  et  seq. 

—  Society  of  Plymouth,  Mass., 
178 

Phillips,  Rev.  George,  207 
Plas  Grono,  247 

—  yn  Yale,  236,  238,  247,  249 
Pocahontas,  308,  313 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  304 
Poyntz,     Margaret    Georgiana, 

Lady  Spencer,  104 
President,  First,  of  the  United 

States,  113,  132,  192 
Prince  Charles,  116 


346    AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN  ENGLAND 


Prince  Rupert,  7 
Pulborough,  229 
Puritans,  The,  135 
Purleigh,  23,  113,  115,  116 


Quakers,  Penn  and,  214,  235 

—  their  treatment  by  Endicott, 
209,  234,  301 

Queen  Elizabeth,  14,  40,  42,  43, 
171,  317 

—  Henrietta  Maria,  320 

—  of  James  I.,  96 

—  Mary,  42,  43,  144 

—  Victoria,  303 
Quincy,  Thomas,  283 
Quinnipiac,  329 


Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  296  et  seq. 

Randolph,  John,  310 

Red   Horse   Inn,    Stratford-on- 

Avon,  285 
Rendle,    Dr.,  author  of  "  Old 

Southwark,"  256 
Ringmer,  Sussex,  230 
Roades,  William,  130 
Robinson,  Rev.  John,  175,  184, 

190,  198 
Rogers,  Katharine,  257 

—  Thomas,  257 
Rolfe,  John,  309 

—  Thomas,  310 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  270,  306 
Rose  Theatre,  274 
Rumbold,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  129, 

IS' 

Rupert,  Prince,  57,  62,  63 
Ruscombe,  232 
Russell,  William,  226 
Rylands,  Mrs.,  82 


"  Sacharissa,"  8 1 
Sadler,  Ann,  261 

—  Rev.  John,  261 
St.  Mary  Overy,  253 
Sampson,  Abbot,  202 
Sandys,  Dr.  Edwin,  Archbishop 

of  York,  134,  165,  168 

—  Sir  Edwin,  134,  137 

—  Robert,  134 

—  Thomas,  134 

Scrooby  and  the  Pilgrim  Fathers, 

163,  1 66  et  seq. 
Separatists,  177,  179 
—Shakespeare,  273,  275,  282 
Simpkinson,  Rev.  J.  N.,  24,  69, 

71,  73,  165,  169 
Shelley,  Edward,  230 
Sheperd,     or    Shepherd,    Rev. 

Thomas,  326 

"  Sketch  Book  "  (quoted),  249 
Smith,  Captain  John,  308,  311 

et  seq. 
Smyth,    Rev.  John,    175,    184, 

190 

Somers's ' '  Tracts  "  (quoted),  1 1 7 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  98 
Spence,  Harriet,  291 
Spencer,  Mary,  125,  126 

—  Lord  Robert,  v.,  9,  10,  n, 
15,22,  27,  47,48,  52,60,  81, 
97,  98,  125 

—  Memorials,  91  et  seq. 

—  the  Right  Hon.  Earl  Spencer, 
K.G.,  v.,  77,  79,  90 

—  Sir  John,  7,  n,   13,  16,   17, 
47,60,  70,81,88,91,94,95. 

101,   102 

—  Lord  William,  15,  98,  99 

—  Sir  William,  93 
Springett,  Gulielma,   219,   229, 

230,  231 

—  Sir  William,  230 
Standish,  Miles,  192  et  seq. 
Stanhope,  Sir  John,  173 


INDEX 


347 


"Star  Chamber,"  55 
"  Stars  and  Stripes,"  107 
Stoke  Newington  and  Poe,  the 
poet,  204 

—  Park,  233,  234 

—  Poges      (and      churchyard), 
233-4 

Stowe,  303 

Stratford-on-Avon,  257,  258,284 

"Sufferings     of    the    Clergy" 

(quoted),  121 
Sulgrave,  17,  1 8,  21,  22,  23,  24  ; 

description    of,    29    et  seq. ; 

church.  30  ;  memorials,  34  et 

seq. ;  Manor-house,  37  et  seq. ; 

48,  70,  75^  104 
Sundial,  The  Washington,  77 
Sunderland,  Earl  of,  64,  103 
Syon,  Monastery  of,  230 


"Tabard,"   The,   and    the    Pil- 
grimage to  Canterbury,  278 
Thompson,  Canon,  253 
Tom  Telltruth  (quoted),  117 
Townshend,  C.  H.,  241 
Traill,  Mary  and  Robert,  291 
Treaty  with  Indians,  memorial 

of,  233 

Tring,  122,  123,  124,  126,  129 
Troil,  Minna,  291-2 
Tyndale,  Sir  John,  206 

U 

University,  Cambridge,  259,  327 

—  Harvard,  260,  265  etseq. 

—  Oxford,  328 

—  Yale,  245 


Valle  Crucis  Abbey,  236 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  208 


Veres,   Miles  Standish  with,  in 

Holland,  197 
Verney,  Sir  Edmund,  65,   116, 

117,  118,  125,  134 

—  Francis,  125 

—  Tom,  134 

Vicar  of  Culworth,  43 

Virginia,  123,  124,  131,  132, 
'34.  298,  308,  310,  317,  318, 
320,  321,  322,  336,  338 

Virginia  Company,  187,  319 

Virgin  Queen,  297 


W 

Walker,  John  (quoted),  121 
Waller,  the  poet,  81 
Warburton  (quoted),  62,  63 
Warminghurst,  229,  230,  231 
Warton,  4,  23,  28,  132 
Washington,  Amy,  26,  36,  no, 
III 

—  Amphillis,  116,  127,  130 

—  Christopher,  21 

—  Elizabeth,  70,  102 

—  George,  2,  4,  19,  24,  58,  132, 
136 

—  Gregory,  24,  69,  75 

—  Henry  (Col.),  63,  134 

—  House,  74,  76 

—  John  (later  Sir),  4,  15,  22,  23, 

100,   IOI 

—  John  (son  of  Rev.  Lawrence), 
113,  123,  131,  132 

—  Lawrence  (of  Sulgrave   and 
Brington),  v.,  4,  6,  II,  12,  13, 
14,  15,  17,  18,  19,  24,  26,  34, 
36,  47,  58,  69,  72,  95,    104, 
106 

—  Lawrence  (Rev.),  of  Purleigh, 
23,  no,  113,  114  et  seq.  ;  his 
children,  124 

—  Lawrence  (Sir),  118 

—  Lawrence  (son  of  the   Rev. 
Lawrence),  123  et  seq. 


348   AMERICAN   SHRINES   IN   ENGLAND 


Washington,  Lucy,  100,  no 

—  Mordaunt,  100 

—  Richard,  no 

—  Robert,   19,  20,  21,  22,  23, 
24,  47,  48,  57,  58,  59,  60,  69, 
73,  105,  106,  107 

—  Thomas,  116 

—  William,  21,23,63,  109,  118 
Washingtons,   The,    of   North- 
amptonshire, I,  9,  28,  33 

Watergall,  60 

Waters,  H.  F.,   113,   125,  127, 

128,  255  (quoted),  263 
Welles,  Albert,  5 
Wessyngton,  John  de,  5 
West,  Benjamin,  307 
Westminster  Abbey,  Memorials 

in,  287,  294 
Weston  Hall,  42 
White,  Rev.  John,  186 
Whitfield,  4,  23,  28 
Whitman,  Walt.,  339 
Whittier  (quoted),  2IO 
Why te-Melville, 23;  (quoted),  84 
Williams,  Roger,  328 
Willis,  Nathaniel  Parker,  68 
Willoughby,  Abigail,  14,  61 

—  Margaret,  95 


Willoughbys,  56,  6 1 
Wilson,  historian  of  James  I.,  10 
Winthrop,  Adam,  202  et  seq. 
—  John,  202  et  seq. ;  331 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  165,  166 
Wool-stapling,  8 
Wormleighton,      13,     25,    47  ; 
description  of,  49  ;  et  seq.  90 
Wrexham,  237,  244,  245,  247 
Wriothesley,  Penelope,  98,  99 
Wykes,  Mr.,  77 


Yale  Chapel,  239 

—  College,  The  Founder  of,  236 
et  seq. 

—  Elihu,  239,  253,  330 

—  David,  240,  246 

—  Thomas,  240,  247 

—  Plas  yn,  236,  241,  247,  249 
Yale-in-Powys.  239 

Yales,  Pedigree  of,  241 


Zeeman,   Enoch,   painter,    245, 
249 


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